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The Conversation
The Conversation
Politics
Svetla Ben-Itzhak, Assistant Professor of Space and International Relations, Air University

Space Blocs: The future of international cooperation in space is splitting along lines of power on Earth

In the next decade, both a U.S.-led group and a collaboration between Russia and China aim to set up bases on the Moon. Theasis/iStock via Getty Images

Even during times of conflict on the ground, space has historically been an arena of collaboration among nations. But trends in the past decade suggest that the nature of cooperation in space is shifting, and fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted these changes.

I’m an international relations scholar who studies power distributions in space – who the main players are, what capabilities they possess and whom they decide to cooperate with. Some scholars predict a future in which single states pursue various levels of dominance, while others foresee a scenario in which commercial entities bring nations together.

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