A new warning to China-America WW3 amid fears that it will happen in space The world | news

Star Trek called it the “final frontier.” Now ready to become the ultimate battlefield. A shocking new Pentagon report declares space a “critical domain” for any upcoming superpower war. He warns of a dystopian future in which robotic weapons systems fight in orbit, wreaking death and destruction upon terrestrial enemies without human intervention.

“We are evolving toward remote-controlled warfare, which by 2050 may be a reality,” the US Air Force says in its cold report.

He predicts a “highly automated, highly autonomous” future of warfare.

“Control of space will be strongly contested in 2050 – it already is.

“Adversary space systems may include the preposition in space for ground attack.”

Meanwhile, against this ominous backdrop another battle for space supremacy is being waged between the two richest men in the world.

The cash-strapped space agency NASA fears it will leave the launch pad.

At the presidential inauguration in Washington on Monday, in a privileged position just meters away from the president were the competing billionaires: Elon Musk, who owns Spacex, and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Rockets Blue Origin. They both also command vast global satellite arrays.

However, when Trump declared his ambition to send us astronauts to Mars, it was Musk, who has become one of the president’s most trusted senior advisers, who jumped with delight and gave a smiling thumbs up.

The world’s richest man, Musk has long declared his dream of sending a SpaceX crew to the Red Planet, and Trump appears willing to use taxpayer billions to help him do it. Bezos, who lacks the president’s ear, politely applauded.

Trump’s announcement deepens the rift between NASA and Musk’s rise, which could single-handedly fund the space agency’s annual budget for $17 billion for 17 years before going short.

Musk has been named co-head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump has tasked with trimming $1 billion from the federal government’s $6.3 million budget.

He finds himself in the enviable position of cutting waste at NASA while having the personal funds to make SpaceX the dominant force in America’s space future, much to Bezos’ anger.

Musk’s opening moment offered a brief window into the complex machinations behind the growing race for space exploitation — and urbanization — that could become the world’s next grim theater of war. In one of his first actions, the 47th President ordered the Space Force flag raised to full mast alongside every U.S. military branch flag.

After six decades of a space race with Russia, China would be America’s greatest enemy in any orbital conflict, Pentagon report reveals.

The warning comes as President Trump squarely puts China in his crosshairs, threatening burdensome tariffs on imports. These undo alleged currency manipulation in China, supply chain disruptions, intellectual property theft, failure to stop fentanyl exports and election interference.

However, the looming space war with China sugarcoats America’s “manifest destiny in the stars,” Trump declared in his inaugural address, promising to launch “American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on Mars.”

At the end of Trump’s first presidency when, to a chorus of cynicism and distrust, he launched the Space Force in 2019. “Amid serious threats to our national security, our American superiority in space is absolutely vital,” he insisted.

Five years later, the technology to make battlespace is no longer science fiction.

The cost of space launches has decreased dramatically and there are now more than 10,000 active satellites orbiting the Earth.

This number is expected to increase fivefold by 2030, led by SPACEX-launched towers by STARLINK and Amazon’s Kuiper systems.

But as nations become increasingly reliant on satellite communications, the prospects of military satellites designed for warfare in space are amplified.

“We’re going to need a much larger and stronger Space Force,” says outgoing US Air Force Secretary, as he highlights Air Force Department’s 2050 findings to Congress. The Space Force’s 15,000 troops are expected to triple this year.

Kendall warns that America’s enemies will deploy space-based weapons as well as advanced ground-based firepower to target American systems in orbit and on the ground.

But it’s a race the United States is losing to China, which the Pentagon expects to grow its nuclear capability to match the United States and Russia, gain additional international bases, and see significant growth in space weapons. Saltzman’s team leader warned last month that China’s expanded military presence in space could disrupt US forces before they reach conflict zones. “China can and will use its space capacity to maintain joint and combined force at risk,” he said.

Beijing’s proven ability to hack Western scientific progress and develop information technology at a speed that the US military lags behind.

“We don’t sell our IT in government at anything like the commercial world price,” Kendall admits.

China has launched more than 400 satellites – half of which are used for military surveillance and targeting – in the past two years. It also plans to build its own moon base, with the Chang’e 7 mission laying the groundwork next year.

“Russia will remain hostile, but its ambitions will be limited by the weakness of its economy,” the Pentagon study predicts. However they will be less dangerous. “There are reports that Russia may pass an anti-mass destruction space weapon into space,” in violation of the Outer Space Treaty, the Air Force warns.

The growing threat of war in space comes as powerful factions in Washington, D.C., battle for control of America’s extraterrestrial ambitions.

Musk’s SpaceX aims to send crewed missions to Mars to create a permanent base for future mineral exploitation and space exploration, with a self-sustaining colony under a dome.

He also plans to build space stations and moon bases, launch thousands more satellites, and make space tourism affordable.

Bezos’ blue asset is developing a launch vehicle and Lunar Lander for NASA, a new orbital space station, and more Kuiper satellites.

But with its constrained budget, NASA has less ambitious goals, aiming to return to the Moon and develop advanced space technologies, space telescopes and probes. Its mission statement acknowledges: “Unlike how the space program began, NASA will not race a competition.”

Unlike NASA, Musk and Bezos benefit from not being hand-held by government regulations, committees and oversight in the development of new technologies. “The government was not intentionally designed to move quickly,” admits Space Forces chief Gen Saltzman, while the private sector can innovate “incredibly fast.”

Musk’s influence on US space policy grew this week when Trump nominated as NASA’s next administrator billionaire Jared Isaacs, founder of the payment processing company and a dwarf ally, who has flown as a private astronaut on two Dragon missions in Musk Spacex.

Musk already has what many consider excessive geopolitical influence, not only through the X social media platform, but also through the Starlink satellite communications network.

It is a vital part of many countries’ infrastructure and is routinely used in Ukraine to direct troop and drone attacks against Russia.

But with Musk tasked with cutting government spending, Kendall warns that America could fall behind in the space arms race if budgets are slaughtered.

Perhaps most worryingly, any future war in space will be conducted at lightning speed by computers, with artificial intelligence increasingly replacing human decision-making, especially in fast-paced battles.

Victory in space “will likely be determined by which warfighters provide the most artificial intelligence technology,” the Pentagon report says.

As humanity stands on the threshold of exploring deeper space, the potential grows to use alien weapons to blast humanity into the Stone Age.

Even Star Trek’s optimistic vision of a planetary federation was sparking conflicts with Romulans, Klingons and assorted interstellar enemies. We may not face extraterrestrial adversaries, yet those we have on Earth are forcing us to confront a paradigm shift in space. As the Pentagon report puts it bluntly: “We are entering a new and more dangerous period in human history with increasing risks and uncertainty.”

Or as Trump says, paraphrasing STAR TREK’s Spock: Live Long and Shoot First.