The U.S. Space Force on Thursday released a new strategic blueprint detailing how it intends to achieve space superiority in future conflicts by enhancing both its defensive and offensive space capabilities.
The document, titled Space Warfighting: A Framework for Planners, follows the release earlier this month of the Space Force’s updated doctrine, establishing a common lexicon for counterspace operations and signaling a decisive shift from supporting roles to a primary focus on space superiority
That shift comes amid growing concern over the counterspace capabilities of adversary nations like China and Russia – from satellite jammers and cyber tools to tested kinetic anti-satellite weapons. In response, the framework outlines responsible offensive and defensive actions that Space Force Guardians can take to maintain space control and support Joint Force operations.
“[In] the face of growing threats in, from, and to space, access to the domain can no longer be taken for granted. For this reason, it is the formative purpose of the Space Force to achieve space superiority – to ensure freedom of movement in space for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries,” Chief of Space Operations, Gen. Chance Saltzman, wrote in the framework’s foreword.
“We developed Space Warfighting to expand on the tenets of Competitive Endurance and the Space Force Truths. With Space Warfighting, we establish the counterspace framework necessary for Guardians to achieve space superiority, a precondition for Joint Force success,” Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy chief of Space Operations for Strategy, Plans, Programs and Requirements, said in a statement.
According to the plan, counterspace operations will be executed across three primary mission areas: orbital warfare, electromagnetic warfare, and cyberspace warfare.
Under the direction of combatant commanders, Guardians may carry out counterspace operations that include both offensive actions – such as cyber network attacks and orbital strike missions – and defensive measures aimed at disrupting or neutralizing adversary efforts to target U.S. space assets.
The shift in focus for the service also aligns with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s broader push to instill “a warfighting ethos” across the Pentagon. In this context, the Space Force emphasizes that both the new warfighting framework and the updated doctrine serve to solidify “the Space Force as a warfighting service and integral part of the Joint and Combined Force, highlighting the essential role of space superiority for national security.”