The Space War Thread

[Smitty-48]

This is the Space War Thread.

Just brainstorming speculative fiction near future military space war.

Anyone can contribute, the parameters are just keep within the realm of speculative

Technology which is on the horizon, to a hundred years out or so.

You know the drill, space elevators, nuclear electric rockets, etc

America is the protagonist, United States Space Force.

[Smitty-48]

To begin with, in this future geopolitical paradigm, while America remains the dominant economic and military Hegemon, she has pulled back into Fortress America and begun to reach out into space, bypassing plantetary tactical engagements in favor of the purely strategic. King Dollar still rules the waves on earth, but in terms of Manifest Destiny, expansion has gone vertical.

Military basing overseas on earth of little consequence, there is no way to fight a hegemonic war on earth due to thermonuclear deterrence, as such the hegemonic competition has shifted into the domain of space.

Rather than a single adversary state I would postulate that United Nations has become America's chief adversary. The Globalists if you will. The UN remains in Manhattan, but it projects military power into space as well, the Chinese, the Russians, the EU, they're all teaming up in a Space Race Cold War against America for control of the Moon, Mars, and the Saturnian and Jovian systems, etc.

The military expansion is in parallel, America is building colonies, the UN is building competing colonies, the Space Race of the 1960s has extended out into the near solar system.

[Smitty-48]

NASA remains in effect as the civilian agency responsible for space exploration, but the heavy lifting is done by the private sector, SpaceX what have you builds the rockets, the colonies, the space elevators, NASA is the coordinator and academic scientific elite riding on the private enterprise funded by venture capital.

With a geopolitical Space Race competition between America and the UN led by Europe and Asia, United States Space Force has expanded beyond orbit to accompany NASA and the private colonization as the National Security arm in space.

On the one hand the USSF has become the super elite for the Pentagon, on the other hand you're going to space when you join, so it's not for everybody, the USSF personnel are similar to the original Astronauts, warfighters willing to go into the beyond, except they're going to be based there, so it's a special breed.

[Smitty-48]

In terms of space flight technology it's mid to late 21st century, so there are two main ways to orbit, for light load passengers its space plane, air breathing to high altitude, boosted to orbit from there, for heavy loads its space elevator and assemble in orbit.

There are multiple space elevators, the CONUS has them in Florida and Texas, the Europeans in Guyana, the Russians in Kazakhstan, etcetera.

America, the Europeans and Asians are all building orbital habitats and moon bases as gateways. Interplanetary flight is nuclear electric, constant acceleration but fuel limited, so it's fast, but they do coast for long flights to conserve fuel.

[Smitty-48]

The premise of the Space War is America v. the World Cold War Space Race. Similar to the conquest of North America, a colony war with jockeying for position in the high ground of space.

Rather than simply racing to the Moon, it's a race to the Solar System. The Moon is a gateway, like a Berlin Space, Checkpoint Charlie, everybody is there, but it's too close for a fight.

There will be French & Indian proxy war further out, however the thermonuclear stand off on earth precludes direct maneuver against one another within the Terran system. In order to fight head to head, you have to go further out and fight for the colonies.

Within the Terran system the engagements are asymmetrical and covert, espionage, sabotage, state sponsored terrorism, out in the colonies is where you get into your Space Marines.

In terms of ship to ship combat, that occurs in the gravity wells, since it's almost impossible to have spaceships fighting at transit velocities, they are so far apart and going so fast they really cant come to grips until they slow down and arrive at a gravity well.

[Zlaxer]

Rods from God - ‘nuff said.

[Zlaxer]

Rods from God - ‘nuff said.

[Smitty-48]

Rods from God - ‘nuff said.

Again, it's only Cold War in and around the earth, because by this point there are so many nuclear powers that a war on earth is suicidal. There can be covert war on earth, James Bond spy war basically, but in order to have a head to head maneuver engagement direct confrontation of military forces, that has to be on a proxy battlefield further out.

Again, this is how the Europeans fought over North America, there wasn't head to head war on the continent, instead you had colony war in the America's, French and Indian Wars I II III IV. Only French and Indian IV escalated to the Seven Years (World) War.

Moreover, there is inherent restraint, you can't just bombard an adversary colony in space at will, because there is the constant threat of that inciting a war on earth, which would go thermonuclear, so rods from god up there can cause things to go nuclear down here, so all sides are constrained, it's more skirmishes in space, war of annihilation is too dangerous. There's no total war, its asymmetrical, more cold war than hot.

Moreover, once you are in space, you don't have to fight total war, it's more competing for the high ground, who can build colonies faster and better, though at times these colonial positions will be in tense standoffs with each other, sometime breaking out into short sharp fights, limited yet violent actions.

It's not different than now, you can nuke Russia right now, why don't you? Same applies to Rods from God. On the other hand CENTCOM killed 300 Russian Wagner Group Mercs in Syria without starting a nuclear war, this is like that, except this Syria is on Mars.

[brewster]

So silly you refused to read Pournelle's Falkenberg books, this is more or less the thing, except it's all Jarheads with boots on the ground in proxy wars, no pew pew space battles.

[Smitty-48]

So silly you refused to read Pournelle's Falkenberg books, this is more or less the thing, except it's all Jarheads with boots on the ground in proxy wars, no pew pew space battles.

I'm writing my own thing, I'm not writing fan fiction. I'm not trying to emulate anybody, the less I know about other peoples stuff the better, I'm not trying to copy someone else.

In terms of my United States Space Force Military Astronaut of the future, they are the all purpose warfighter.

For space transit they are like submariners, for orbital warfare like fighter pilots, for close combat like Marines, for complex operations other than war like Green Berets, hand picked and trained by all the other armed services.

Literally American Jedi.

As with the earlier space program, a lot of the time these USSF Mil Astros will be tasked to NASA, doing dangerous jobs for the NASA science and exploration teams, the private sector colonists don't work for NASA, so the USSF will be at NASA's disposal, while also carrying out the National Security mission, ready for combat as it may occur.

Bear in mind,this is near future, this is not like Starship Troopers, this is more like Neal Armstrong. Except in this case, Neal Armstrong is available for the war mission and the Moonshot at the same time. Explore the solar system, fight the commies there as need be.

Now, in terms of what are America's space colonies?

To start off with similar to 2001:A Space Odyssey, there's an orbital space habitat ring, run by NASA, also the United States Space Force Academy, then there is a Moonbase which is more of an industrial base.

From there you've got the Mars colony, there's Cloud City floating 50 miles above the surface of Venus, then it's out to Ganymede in the Jovian System, because Ganymede has a magnetic field. There can be other habitats in orbits as well, there's not really a habitable moon around Saturn so that might be the second larger habitat out there.