Outer space and the Asia-Pacific region

Australia’s geography and relative stability and wealth lends itself to space excellence. Space is growing in the Indo-Pacific, with access to space now essential as a means to services such as telecommunications, navigation, transport, education, climate monitoring, and aid. The demography of space has changed rapidly since the Cold War. It is no longer a US-Russia-China trichotomy. There is now an expanding kaleidoscope of space activity worldwide and this is certainly true in the IndoPacific. This presents Australia with an opportunity for meaningful “space diplomacy,” both as a good international citizen, capable middle power, and in terms of strategic partnerships to balance and manage regional geopolitics. Access to space matters also matters to national and global security, not least because of the significance of access to remote sensing technologies in gathering intelligence and other useful data.1 In that context, this article first provides a general overview of space in the Indo-Pacific, and then assesses that overview through a security lens in the specific context of access, resources, and human security. This article urges Australia to expand the public face of space, both domestically and internationally, through vision, strategy and policy.