NATO looking up. The relevance of outer space in a changing security environment

The increasingly competitive nature of outer space has brought ground-breaking opportunities as well as novel vulnerabilities for NATO member States’ defense capa- bilities. Remarkably, during the last decade and specifically after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, the Alliance has progressively relied on space for multiple national security and military operations conducted on Earth, including communication, spa- ce-based observing systems and intelligence, which enabled the gathering of an exten- sive amount of information to ensure an immediate and effective crisis response. In light of NATO’s recognition of space as a new operational domain and the subsequent adoption of a Space Policy in 2019, this article examines the strategic implications of a space-based support to NATO’s Earth and battlefield operations. Notably, specific at- tention is dedicated to satellite communication and the development of counter-space technologies on the part of the Russian Federation and China, which could potentially acquire a deterrence function to the detriment of the Alliance.