Why the military is integral to America’s return to the moon

The stakes in the race to the moon are literally astronomical. The success or failure of the efforts by the United States, China, India and others to forge a permanent human presence on the moon will shape alliances, technologies and behaviors, thus establishing a precedence for future activities beyond Earth’s orbit and the terrestrial geopolitical landscape. As the United States, our allies and potential adversaries now look to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, the military must play a vital role.

As it has done multiple times in the past, the military will be critical in establishing the necessary infrastructure to support a burgeoning ecosystem. Some may argue this is a role for NASA, not the Department of Defense. Indeed, NASA is leading the way to returning astronauts to the moon. However, when it comes to establishing the necessary infrastructure to foster safe and secure commercial and civil growth, there are historical precedence, current operational imperatives and even existing statutes all demanding the DoD be integral to the future growth on the moon and surrounding region, known as the cislunar regime.

A lack of military involvement will slow U.S. progress in the race to the moon and place at risk national security, scientific and economic interests .

From the founding of the United States to the modern space age, there are numerous historical examples of military efforts paving the way for civil and commercial opportunities. In these cases, military involvement accelerated progress and opened new opportunities for subsequent scientific and economic ventures. Under the direction of President Thomas Jefferson, Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark led the expedition blazing a trail for the western expansion.

The interstate highway system championed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in part to provide a means to support national defense requirements during the Cold War. The modern information highway of the internet started as a defense project in a predecessor organization to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The space age itself became a reality thanks in part to the efforts of Gen. Bernard Schriever and his work to develop ballistic missiles, which became early rockets and launch range capabilities for NASA. This tradition continued with the development of the GPS constellation providing positioning, navigation and timing signals not just for the military but for users all over the world.

In many ways, the role of the military in the cislunar regime will be an extension of current U.S. Space Force and Space Command missions performed in geosynchronous orbit and below. In fact, the Space Force’s newly designated 19th Space Defense Squadron is already maintaining an initial level of awareness beyond geosynchronous orbit and into the cislunar regime. The military-provided space domain awareness critical to spaceflight safety around Earth will also be essential as humanity increases its presence in the cislunar regime — the space between the Earth and the moon.

Similarly, the aids to navigation and timing currently coming from GPS can also be established near the moon to provide astronauts and robotic missions with a common reference for safer cislunar travel. Further, satellite communication remains a cornerstone mission of the military, and a robust communication architecture will also be required to transmit scientific data, direct robotic missions and connect people on Earth with people on the moon.

Finally, as the cislunar ecosystem grows, so will the national interests in that region — national interests the military must be ready to protect and defend. The National Defense Authorization Act signed in 2019 established the Space Force and directed the service with the responsibility to “protect the interests of the United States in space.” To do this, the Space Force must organize, train and equip forces for Space Command to employ in monitoring activities, tracking natural and adversary threats, and responding appropriately.

Just as the U.S. Air Force helps to maintain freedom of the sky, the Space Force will maintain freedom in space from low Earth orbit to cislunar space and beyond as national interests expand further into space. By being a leader in the establishment of a cislunar infrastructure, the military is also establishing the foundation to accomplish its assigned duty.

In collaboration with NASA, the DoD is taking a few first steps to explore infrastructure opportunities beyond the nascent domain awareness operations currently executed by the 19th Space Defense Squadron . As will be detailed in an upcoming Mitchell Institute report, these are early steps in what must become a larger and more robust enterprise.

DARPA has kicked off a study examining infrastructure efforts needed in the next 10 years to facilitate scientific and economic activities in the cislunar regime. The LunA-10 study explores multiple areas necessary to sustain a growing cislunar ecosystem, including construction, mining, transit, energy, communication and navigation.

Together, LunA-10; DARPA’s DRACO mission, or Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, examining nuclear propulsion for cislunar operations; and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Oracle mission fielding a space domain awareness spacecraft in the cislunar regime highlight the military’s interest in cislunar space. Given development timelines and additional complexities of operations in the cislunar regime, the next steps must begin soon.

For historic, mission and statutory reasons, it is essential for the military to be an integral part of the return to the moon. Activities like the 19th Space Defense Squadron, LunA-10, DRACO and Oracle are just the initial steps to advance thinking and mature technology. In close coordination with NASA and commercial cislunar ventures, these early steps will ultimately transition to Space Force programs, Space Command capabilities, and essential elements of the growing peaceful, transparent and cooperative cislunar ecosystem.

Charles Galbreath is a senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. A retired U.S. Space Force officer, he previously served as the deputy chief technology and innovation officer on the service’s headquarters staff.

登月竞赛的利害关系可谓举世瞩目。美国、中国、印度和其他国家在月球上建立永久人类存在的努力，其成败将影响联盟关系、技术发展和行为模式，从而为未来地球轨道以外的活动和地缘政治格局树立先例。随着美国、其盟友和潜在对手着眼于在月球上建立永久人类存在，军方必须发挥至关重要的作用。

正如以往多次那样，军方在建立支持蓬勃发展的生态系统所需的必要基础设施方面将发挥关键作用。有人可能会认为这是美国国家航空航天局（NASA）而非国防部的职责。的确，NASA正在引领宇航员重返月球的进程。然而，在建立促进安全可靠的商业和民用发展所需的基础设施方面，历史先例、当前的运行要务，甚至现行法规都要求国防部在月球及其周边地区（即地月空间区域）的未来发展中扮演不可或缺的角色。

缺乏军事参与将减缓美国在登月竞赛中的进展，并危及国家安全、科学和经济利益。

从美国建国到现代太空时代，历史上不乏军事行动为民用和商业机遇铺平道路的例子。在这些案例中，军事介入加速了进程，并为后续的科学和经济活动开辟了新的机遇。在托马斯·杰斐逊总统的指示下，梅里韦瑟·刘易斯上尉和威廉·克拉克中尉率领探险队，为西部扩张开辟了道路。

艾森豪威尔总统大力倡导的州际公路系统，部分原因是为了在冷战期间满足国防需求。而现代信息高速公路——互联网，最初也是国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）前身机构的一个国防项目。

太空时代的到来，部分要归功于伯纳德·施里弗将军及其在弹道导弹研发方面的努力，这些导弹后来发展成为早期火箭，并为美国国家航空航天局（NASA）提供了发射场能力。这一传统随着全球定位系统（GPS）星座的建立而延续，GPS不仅为军方，也为世界各地的用户提供定位、导航和授时信号。

在许多方面，军方在近地月空间领域扮演的角色将是美国太空部队和太空司令部目前在地球同步轨道及以下轨道执行任务的延伸。事实上，太空部队新成立的第19太空防御中队已经开始对地球同步轨道以外的近地月空间领域进行初步的态势感知。随着人类在近地月空间（即地球和月球之间的空间）的活动日益频繁，军方提供的对地球周边太空飞行安全至关重要的空间态势感知也将变得至关重要。

同样，目前由全球定位系统（GPS）提供的导航和授时辅助功能也可以在月球附近建立，为宇航员和机器人任务提供共同的参考基准，从而实现更安全的近地旅行。此外，卫星通信仍然是军事领域的一项基石任务，而强大的通信架构对于传输科学数据、指导机器人任务以及连接地球上的人员和月球上的人员也至关重要。

最后，随着地月空间生态系统的发展，该地区的国家利益也将随之增长——军队必须随时准备保护和捍卫这些国家利益。2019年签署的《国防授权法案》设立了太空军，并赋予其“保护美国在太空利益”的职责。为此，太空军必须组织、训练和装备部队，供太空司令部用于监测太空活动、追踪自然和敌对威胁，并做出相应的应对。

正如美国空军维护领空自由一样，随着国家利益不断向太空延伸，太空部队也将维护从近地轨道到地月空间乃至更远太空的太空自由。通过引领地月空间基础设施的建设，军方也在为履行其职责奠定基础。

美国国防部正与美国国家航空航天局（NASA）合作，迈出探索基础设施建设机遇的第一步，这些机遇将超越目前由第19太空防御中队执行的新兴领域感知行动。正如即将发布的米切尔研究所报告将详细阐述的那样，这些只是迈向更大、更强大事业的早期步骤。

美国国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）启动了一项研究，旨在探讨未来十年内为促进地月空间科学和经济活动所需的基础设施建设。这项名为“LunA-10”的研究涵盖了维持不断发展的地月空间生态系统所需的多个领域，包括建筑、采矿、交通运输、能源、通信和导航。

LunA-10、DARPA的DRACO任务（即“敏捷地月空间作战演示火箭”，旨在研究用于地月空间作战的核动力推进系统）以及空军研究实验室的Oracle任务（旨在将空间态势感知航天器部署到地月空间）共同凸显了军方对地月空间的浓厚兴趣。鉴于研发周期以及地月空间作战的复杂性，下一步工作必须尽快启动。

出于历史、任务和法律层面的原因，军方必须成为重返月球计划不可或缺的一部分。诸如第19太空防御中队、LunA-10、DRACO和Oracle等项目仅仅是推进理念和完善技术的初步步骤。通过与NASA和商业地月空间企业的密切合作，这些早期步骤最终将过渡到太空军项目、太空司令部能力，以及日益壮大的和平、透明和合作的地月空间生态系统的关键要素。

查尔斯·加尔布雷思是米切尔航空航天研究所的高级驻所研究员。他曾是美国太空部队的一名退役军官，此前曾担任该部队总部副首席技术与创新官。