Hey there!
This week’s newsletter is going to be short and sweet.
This episode of The DownLink Podcast covers “gray warfare”, but generally. What is it, really? While we have a general idea that it is any aggressive behavior that falls below the threshold of being an act of war, would you know it if you saw it?
Over the past couple of months I have been having conversations with a variety of academics, policy-makers, space operators, and investors. What I found was that while they agreed on a general definition for the concept of gray warfare, there was more debate on what constituted an act of gray warfare.
Everyone was easily able to point to cyberattacks and electronic warfare as falling into the gray zone. Most agreed that China is using lawfare as a weapon to achieve its strategic goals.
These conversations left me wondering: What else?
This is what this week’s episode attempts to get after.
If you want to learn more about lawfare and the space domain, I recommend starting with last week’s newsletter and podcast episode, “A Fighting Irishman Walks Into A Boardroom With The PRC.” It’s a thriller, with a great guest, that won’t disappoint.
If you were looking for an analysis on the Trump-Musk “bromance” split and rapprochement, what that sequence of events reveals for space and national defense, that is the subject of the next episode, with Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute.
What’s in this episode
The Trump-Musk “bromance” break-up and make-up is clearly visible on the world stage and worrying many about just how far and how deep the fallout could be for space and defense. What’s not-so-visible, are the aggressive tactics and techniques - lawsuits, loans, proxies and pirates - that fall-below the threshold of “acts of war”. That’s “gray warfare” in the space domain. How would you know it if you saw it?
Who’s in this episode
Dean Cheng - Non-resident Fellow at both the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and the George Washington University Space Policy Institute
Retired Navy Cmdr. John "Patsy" Klein - Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and Georgetown University’s Strategic Studies Program; who recently authored the book, “Fight for the Final Frontier: Irregular Warfare in Space”
Reading
“Propellant leak delays SpaceX launch of private Ax-4 astronaut mission to the ISS” - Mike Wall, Space.com, June 11, 2025
“Shubhanshu Shukla's father recalls the moment PM Modi gave him astronaut wings” - India Today Science Desk, India Today, June 9, 2025 - I’m including this piece to illustrate that while we here in the United States see sending astronauts to space as commonplace, it is not common, even for space-faring nations like India.
“Space Ops: Lost Moon” - Irene Klotz, Aviation Week, June 11, 2025 - A more detailed article about ispace’s failed M2 mission to the moon, than last week’s breaking news.
“Weapon Systems Annual Assessment” - Government Accountability Office, June 2025 - There’s not a lot of detail for space of the U.S. Space Force on the landing page or in the highlights document. Recommend opening up the full document.
“House Appropriators Add Amost $3 Billion to President’s Request for Space Force” - Marcia Smith, SpacePolicyOnline.com, June 10, 2025
“China is arming its space station with ‘guard dogs.’“ - Jesus Diaz, Fast Company, June 10, 2025
“First Amendment concerns related to federal officer conduct in Los Angeles area” - Letter signed by 25 First Amendment and Press organizations, June 9, 2025
“National Press Club Condemns Police Targeting of Journalists Covering Los Angeles Protests” - The National Press Club, June 10, 2025
