Source: Interesting Engineering

Steven  Kwast, a recently retired U.S. Air Force  Lieutenant and big supporter for a  U.S. Space Force, laid out what he thinks the future looks like by taking advantage of what space has to offer. 

During a lecture at Hillsdale College located in Washington D.C.  titled “The Urgent Need for a U.S. Space Force,”  Kwast laid out his vision for space innovations, arguing it will change everything including energy, manufacturing, technology, and transportation, shifting world power along the way.

Kwast argued those who reject the new and cling to the past will be left behind.  In order to prevent the U.S. from that fate, Kwast said the creation of a U.S. Space Force is necessary. 

Retired general stokes China fear 

If the U.S. isn’t leading in space then a host of markets including energy, transportation, manufacturing and IT will be dominated by the countries that do lead. Kwast said that whenever there are new markets forming there has to be a force that guards and protects it and thus the need for the Space Force. Kwast pointed to China, which he said is already building a force that he likened to a navy fleet, but for space.

He claims China has the equivalent of battleships and destroyers in space that they will use to kill and dominate us. If China is able to do this without the U.S. responding then China gets to be the country to set the rules in space.  “Whoever gets to the new market sets the values of that market,” said Kwast. “Once you get the high ground, that strategic high ground, it’s curtains for anybody trying to get to that high ground behind them.”

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In a doomsday scenario, Kwast said that in the next ten years China will have solar and nuclear power generations in orbit that they can use to harm America. “In a millisecond that dominance of the electromagnetic spectrum could paralyze any part of the power grid and freeze any military might,” he warned. 

Kwast pointed to the development of 5G as an example of what can happen in space if China is left unchecked. He said China stole the technology from U.S. based companies, duplicated it and now dominates the 5G market in an unfair way.

As for what the U.S. can do it about this new threat, Kwast implies the country is already on it. 

“The technology is on the engineering benches today. But most Americans and most members of Congress have not had time to really look deeply at what is going on here. But I’ve had the benefit of 33 years of studying and becoming friends with these scientists. This technology can be built today with technology that is not developmental to deliver any human being from any place on planet Earth to any other place in less than an hour,” he said. 

Source: Interesting Engineering