2019 Global Counterspace Capabilities Report
About This Report
The Secure World Foundation’s 2019 Global Counterspace Capabilities Executive Summary documents how nations are rapidly developing technologies to disrupt or disable space systems in response to increasing military and economic reliance on space. The report examines five categories of counterspace threats—direct-ascent, co-orbital, electronic warfare, directed energy, and cyber—highlighting that while kinetic weapons are being tested, non-kinetic means are already in operational use. It warns that the spread of such capabilities poses not only military but also civilian and commercial risks, with global repercussions.
This edition adds new technical detail and organizational analysis from key space powers. It discusses China’s dual-use technologies like rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), Russia’s revitalized Cold War-era programs, and the United States’ capabilities and doctrine shifts amid rising space militarization. Emerging actors like India, North Korea, and Iran are also covered, alongside a growing concern over cyber vulnerabilities in space systems. The 2019 report reinforces the call for international norms to ensure space remains a secure and sustainable domain.
Executive Summaries
