By Lan Shunzheng

兰顺正

July 20, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the first humans landing on the moon. "Space" has once again become a hot word for the international community. As commemorative events are held all over the world, a new round of "space battle" is also quietly unfolding.

2019年7月20日是人类首次登月50周年纪念日，“太空”再度成为了国际社会关注的热词。就在世界各地纷纷举行纪念活动的同时，新一轮“太空争夺战”也在悄然展开。

After France officially announced that it would establish a space force command, the UK recently expressed its intention to strengthen space military power. The US and the UK will jointly strengthen their space defense capabilities to jointly respond to "threats" from competitors such as China and Russia, according to the website of the US "Defense News".

继法国正式宣布将成立太空军事指挥部之后，英国近日也表示要在太空加强军事实力。据美国《防务新闻》周刊网站近日报道，英美将联手加强太空防务能力，以共同应对来自中俄等竞争对手的“威胁”。

According to the statement made by the then British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt at the Air and Space Power Conference in London, the UK and the US are working on a space programme called "Operation Olympic Defender". The programme is led by the US and aims to form "Space Alliance" with other countries to strengthen the so-called deterrence of allied forces against certain space forces.

另据英国国防大臣彭妮•莫当特日前在伦敦出席空天力量会议时的表述，英美正合作开展一个名为“奥林匹克捍卫者行动”的项目，该项目由美国主导，并与其他国家组成“太空联盟”，旨在加强盟国对太空敌对力量的威慑。

At present, military operations in various countries have been more and more dependent on space power, and as a result, the militarization of space has been intensified. In this context, some countries are rushing to invest huge sum of money to accelerate space exploration. As a former empire, the UK has its own considerations on how to compete for "space rights." The idea of "Global Britain" emerged especially after the "Brexit" referendum.

当前，各国军事行动对空间力量越发倚重，太空军事化愈演愈烈。在此背景下，一些国家争相投入巨资，不断加快“进军”太空的步伐。作为曾经的日不落帝国，英国在如何争夺“太空权”上有着自己的考量。尤其是“脱欧”公投之后，英国国内有了“全球英国”的构想。

This idea has even affected the UK's strategic choice in space defense. In this February, Gavin Williamson, the then British Defence Secretary, said in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies that the UK should seize the rare opportunity brought by "Brexit" and take advantage of the situation, and "build new alliances, as well as rekindle old ones." Williamson said that they should protect the "backyard" and more importantly assume a "true global role." The "Operation Olympic Defender" programme is undoubtedly an example of the UK's use of the "Space Alliance" to play a "leadership role" in global security.

这一构想甚至影响到了英国在太空防务领域的战略选择。今年2月，时任英国国防大臣的加文•威廉姆森在英国皇家三军研究所发表演讲时称，英国要把握“脱欧”带来的难得机遇，乘势而为，“恢复旧联盟、建立新联盟”。不仅要保护好“后院”，更应承担“真正的全球角色”。“奥林匹克捍卫者行动”项目无疑是英国借“太空联盟”之势，发挥对全球安全“领导作用”的一个例证。

Despite its ambitions for space, the UK lacks the necessary power. Considering that the various operations in space require huge financial and human support, it is really impossible for the UK to become a "space leader" alone.

尽管英国在太空领域雄心勃勃，但心有余而力不足。考虑到太空各项行动需要巨大的财政和人力支持，靠单打独斗角逐“太空领导者”，实在力有不逮。

In addition, "Brexit" has also caused further damage to the space industry in the UK. On the one hand, "Brexit" means that the UK will lose the EU as an important platform for promoting transparency and confidence-building measures in space activities, and its influence and discourse power over European and even global space activities will be weakened. On the other hand, once the UK officially exits the EU, some British companies or institutions that originally played an important role in the EU space program are likely to be restricted or excluded, causing serious losses to these enterprises or institutions.

此外，“脱欧”也对英国航天产业造成了进一步打击。一方面，“脱欧”意味着英国将失去欧盟这一推进外空活动透明度和建立信任措施的重要平台，同时其在欧洲乃至全球航天活动中的影响力和话语权势必被削弱。另一方面，一旦英国正式“脱欧”，一些原本在欧盟航天计划中担任重要角色的英国企业或机构很可能被限制或被排斥在外，从而给这些企业和机构带来严重损失。

Take the Galileo satellite navigation system in Europe. It has long been pointed out that once the UK exits the EU, British companies will no longer be directly involved in the development of the EU's new satellite navigation program. In addition, some transnational aerospace companies may transfer some or all of their investments in the UK to the euro zone, and even the important infrastructure involved in the EU space program may not be located in the UK.

以欧洲伽利略卫星导航系统为例，早有舆论指出，一旦英国“脱欧”，则英国公司将不能再直接介入欧盟新卫星导航计划的开发。另外，一些跨国航天企业可能把在英国的投资部分或全部转移至欧元区，甚至欧盟航天计划涉及的重要基础设施也有可能不再设在英国。

Faced with insufficient strength and the risk of being excluded by the EU, the UK have to choose to rely on the most powerful US if it wants to achieve its space "ambitions". As Mordaunt said: "The UK must be ready to face these dangers. But we know we cannot compete in this contested and dangerous world alone."

自身实力不足，又面临被欧盟排挤的风险，英国想要实现在太空领域中的“雄心壮志”，就不得不选择紧紧依靠实力最强的美国。正如莫当特所说：“英国必须做好面对危险的准备……但我们知道，我们无法在这个竞争激烈的危险世界独自参与竞争。”

For the US, the ever-increasing space power of other countries makes it difficult to dominate the space. The "allegiance" of the UK came at the perfect time and therefore the two countries hit it off. However, what worries the world is that if space militarization is intensified, the "peaceful use of outer space" initiative will hardly become a reality.

而对美国而言，世界各国不断增强的太空实力让其感到称霸太空之路并不容易。英国的“归附”，可谓求之不得，所以两国一拍即合。然而令世人担忧的是，如果任由太空军事化愈演愈烈，“和平利用太空”的倡议恐将难以成为现实。