Elon Musk, the Darth Vader of the USA, takes the war to space.

In the previous article, "Hybrid warfare in Kazakhstan and the Biden administration's escalating belligerence"The report produced by the Atlantic Council showed that it recommended more belligerent policies against China and Russia in all possible areas. Among the suggestions is: “the creation of international norms for cyberspace and the spaceThe objective is the use of lawfare and economic sanctions. In 2021 there was a near collision The exchange between two SpaceX (Elon Musk) Starlink satellites and the Chinese Tiangong Space Station was seen by many analysts as a demonstration of hybrid warfare in space. These satellites, operating at an altitude of 500 kilometers, suddenly and without warning maneuvered to 382 kilometers.

Billionaire Elon Musk and his company SpaceX are used as propaganda for the success of private companies. However, observers have discovered that many of their projects have funding and deep collaboration with the US military, including the Starlink project.

Musk plans to launch a constellation of small, low-cost satellites, totaling 42.000. Currently, more than 1900 are in orbit. Starlink satellites are small, inexpensive, and densely distributed, and can be controlled from the ground. They have the capability to intentionally target and collide with stations, satellites, and spacecraft from other countries.

The Chinese believe that the two near-collision events, which forced the Tiangong space station to maneuver and endangered the lives of the two taikonauts, were intentional to test the detection capabilities of the Chinese space industry. 

Space is one of the new gray areas in US war policy. (Gray area: activities by one state that are harmful to another, but where it is unclear whether they are legal or illegal). It's a return to the Cold War Space Race, but this time it's not an ideological dispute to prove who has the best technology. It's a race for natural resources that will be essential for future development. 

The need for energy is ever increasing. Fossil fuel sources are not only polluting, but also require logistics and large infrastructures crossing several countries, whether gas pipelines or large ships.

Renewable energies – wind, solar, etc. – are intermittent and not continuous as needed for a country's energy base. Nuclear fission plants – the current technology – produce an abundance of radioactive waste, in addition to being a strategic weak point, an easy target in case of war.

Just look at the mess Europe is in right now. Europeans are at risk of running out of energy even to heat their homes in winter. Or, the geopolitical war surrounding Nord Stream 2, even with the energy dependence of German industry, which could lose competitiveness and stagnate its industrial development. (Frozen Germany).

We are witnessing the beginning of a new space race; the Star Wars 2.0 project will focus on mining helium-3 on the Moon. It is estimated that the Moon holds vast reserves of rare earth metals, titanium, aluminum, water, and other precious metals. In addition, new technologies will be developed in the process. 

Helium-3 is considered the fuel of the future, enabling the use of nuclear fusion. Unlike nuclear fission, fusion does not generate neutrons, and the protons, with positive charges, can be contained by magnetic fields. It does not produce radioactive byproducts or pollutants.

It is believed that there are 1 million tons of Helium-3 on the Moon. 100 tons of He-3 correspond to all the energy generated on the planet during 1 year. 40g is equivalent to burning 5.000 tons of coal. Not to mention its military importance in the conquest of space. 

This dispute didn't start now; the US tried to block China's access to space, excluding it from... Artemis AgreementsThe text discusses principles and guidelines for space exploration. Since 2011, the Wolf Amendment has prohibited NASA from cooperating with China without prior authorization from the US Congress. Russia refused to sign the agreement, preferring to partner with China. Both plan to establish a joint lunar base by 2027, eight years ahead of the original plan. (ILRS - International Lunar Research Station). The next territories to be contested will be the territorial area of ​​space above countries and the rich mineral deposits on the Moon.

The major countries are engaged in a technological war in the development of superconductors, quantum computers, and helium-3 exploration. Meanwhile, Brazil has chosen to regress to the end of the nineteenth century. A soybean plantation, meat sales, minerals, and crude oil. Add to that the destruction of national industry, the end of universities, and scientific research projects.