nder The Radar is a special series and newsletter offering from Diplomatic Courier bringing you compelling, under–the–radar stories from around the world over the past month. This month across the Hinterlands: NATO launches satellite buildout plan for the Arctic, new designer spacesuits for NASA, and easing export controls on certain tech intended to support the U.S. space tech industry. You can sign up to receive the newsletter here.
Flexing muscles in the Arctic, NATO plans military satellite network
NATO in October launched its plan to build out what is being dubbed the Northlink Initiative, a plan to build out military grade satellite communications in the Arctic as the region has increasingly become a new global strategic concern.
The plan’s unveiling comes at a time when the alliance has paid increasing attention to the Arctic as climate change has warmed the region, fundamentally altering it as a strategic space. Arctic ice has shrunk so much, it’s the seventh smallest ice pack since records have been kept, essentially opening navigable sea lanes between Russia and the United States. The newly opened sea routes have become obvious strategic concerns for the U.S. and its allies, especially with Russia’s role as an Arctic power.
NATO has increasingly paid attention to the Arctic, not just due to Russia but because the alliance’s expansion has taken in nations in or with clear interest in the region. Space, too, has gained increased interest from the alliance since it declared space its “fifth theater of conflict” in 2018. Accompanying the Northlink Initiative is what is called the Starlink Initiative, through which alliance members are further examining how to leverage space to their advantage.
For its part, Russia has responded to NATO’s intentionally visible interest in beefing up its Arctic operations with typical bluster, declaring the alliance could face “catastrophic consequences” as it expands operations on its northern flank. Still, Russia has expanded its military operations in the region and clearly sees the opening of the Arctic as a strategic opportunity.
A new fashion frontier beckons with designer space suits
If you think space might be a place for strictly utilitarian design, you would be wrong. The spacewalk is a catwalk. In mid-October 2024, Axiom Space unveiled its space suit designs for the Artemis III astronauts which could put United States boots back on the Moon in 2026. What garnered Axiom’s suits more attention than usual was its partner: luxury fashion brand Prada.
Space suit design has always been a mix of utilitarian and, yes, fashion concerns. Even the earliest NASA suits were designed with their looks in mind—the reflective silver was just as much an aesthetic choice based on science fiction as it was a functional design. The orange escape suits worn by Space Shuttle astronauts were meant to be highly visible to rescuers. Their blue on–ground/in–orbit jumpsuits had a certain government–issue charm and are still sold in NASA’s online shop for $32.95 apiece.
The advent of private space flight brought on a new generation of space-wear. World’s–richest–person Elon Musk’s SpaceX put its astronauts in suits that were certainly sleeker than the iconic custom–tailored Apollo lunar mission suits, but didn’t exactly win rave reviews for their cool factor (although the spacewalk suits for its Polaris Dawn missions looked better). Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and billionaire, put his fellow Blue Origin flyers in a light blue tracksuit, although he had a lot more flexibility than Musk because these didn’t need to be pressure suits (Bezos even wore a cowboy hat to space). Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic followed a similar space-leisure-suit design playbook.
The new looks show the future of fashion may actually be found beyond earth’s atmosphere.
A new horizon for U.S. space tech companies under revamped export controls
A relatively quiet shift in U.S. government policy is opening a new horizon for America’s growing space industry. In October 2024 the Department of Commerce released a set of new regulations that essentially ease export controls on space technologies—as long as they’re sold to a limited set of U.S. allies. The eased controls include those for remote sensing technology. (Find a good, wonky, in–depth breakdown here).
Federal officials see this as a two-pronged success, both tightening ties and strengthening the space efforts of its allies, and also opening new avenues of trade for U.S. companies, particularly in emerging markets. The export controls were last updated in the 2010s, which is a lifetime ago in the fast–developing world of space technology.
The space business in the U.S. is booming, largely powered by commercial development who are both serving as federal contractors and catering to the new crop of space billionaires, notably Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, owner of SpaceX. They’ve increasingly looked to exports to grow and have chafed at the state of federal controls.
Export controls on high–technology products can be a balancing act for regulators between wanting to open new markets and expand international partnerships, while limiting the possibility that sensitive technology—especially those with “dual–use” or military capacity—may be acquired or accessed by strategic foes.
China earlier this year tightened its own export controls on some space technologies. And to be sure, the U.S. export controls are still strict in some key areas of space technology, particularly high–resolution radar satellites—restrictions the industry considers well out of date.
The balancing act for regulators seems unlikely to get any easier any time soon.
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NATO’s turn toward the Arctic
Arctic Ocean. Photo by Annie Spratt from Unsplash.
November 6, 2024
Diplomatic Courier editor Jeremy Fugleberg brings you three under–the–radar stories from the Hinterlands this month: NATO expands its satellite network in the Arctic; Prada, Musk, and Bezos bring fashion to space; and the U.S. loosens export controls to fuel space industry innovation.
U
nder The Radar is a special series and newsletter offering from Diplomatic Courier bringing you compelling, under–the–radar stories from around the world over the past month. This month across the Hinterlands: NATO launches satellite buildout plan for the Arctic, new designer spacesuits for NASA, and easing export controls on certain tech intended to support the U.S. space tech industry. You can sign up to receive the newsletter here.
Flexing muscles in the Arctic, NATO plans military satellite network
NATO in October launched its plan to build out what is being dubbed the Northlink Initiative, a plan to build out military grade satellite communications in the Arctic as the region has increasingly become a new global strategic concern.
The plan’s unveiling comes at a time when the alliance has paid increasing attention to the Arctic as climate change has warmed the region, fundamentally altering it as a strategic space. Arctic ice has shrunk so much, it’s the seventh smallest ice pack since records have been kept, essentially opening navigable sea lanes between Russia and the United States. The newly opened sea routes have become obvious strategic concerns for the U.S. and its allies, especially with Russia’s role as an Arctic power.
NATO has increasingly paid attention to the Arctic, not just due to Russia but because the alliance’s expansion has taken in nations in or with clear interest in the region. Space, too, has gained increased interest from the alliance since it declared space its “fifth theater of conflict” in 2018. Accompanying the Northlink Initiative is what is called the Starlink Initiative, through which alliance members are further examining how to leverage space to their advantage.
For its part, Russia has responded to NATO’s intentionally visible interest in beefing up its Arctic operations with typical bluster, declaring the alliance could face “catastrophic consequences” as it expands operations on its northern flank. Still, Russia has expanded its military operations in the region and clearly sees the opening of the Arctic as a strategic opportunity.
A new fashion frontier beckons with designer space suits
If you think space might be a place for strictly utilitarian design, you would be wrong. The spacewalk is a catwalk. In mid-October 2024, Axiom Space unveiled its space suit designs for the Artemis III astronauts which could put United States boots back on the Moon in 2026. What garnered Axiom’s suits more attention than usual was its partner: luxury fashion brand Prada.
Space suit design has always been a mix of utilitarian and, yes, fashion concerns. Even the earliest NASA suits were designed with their looks in mind—the reflective silver was just as much an aesthetic choice based on science fiction as it was a functional design. The orange escape suits worn by Space Shuttle astronauts were meant to be highly visible to rescuers. Their blue on–ground/in–orbit jumpsuits had a certain government–issue charm and are still sold in NASA’s online shop for $32.95 apiece.
The advent of private space flight brought on a new generation of space-wear. World’s–richest–person Elon Musk’s SpaceX put its astronauts in suits that were certainly sleeker than the iconic custom–tailored Apollo lunar mission suits, but didn’t exactly win rave reviews for their cool factor (although the spacewalk suits for its Polaris Dawn missions looked better). Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and billionaire, put his fellow Blue Origin flyers in a light blue tracksuit, although he had a lot more flexibility than Musk because these didn’t need to be pressure suits (Bezos even wore a cowboy hat to space). Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic followed a similar space-leisure-suit design playbook.
The new looks show the future of fashion may actually be found beyond earth’s atmosphere.
A new horizon for U.S. space tech companies under revamped export controls
A relatively quiet shift in U.S. government policy is opening a new horizon for America’s growing space industry. In October 2024 the Department of Commerce released a set of new regulations that essentially ease export controls on space technologies—as long as they’re sold to a limited set of U.S. allies. The eased controls include those for remote sensing technology. (Find a good, wonky, in–depth breakdown here).
Federal officials see this as a two-pronged success, both tightening ties and strengthening the space efforts of its allies, and also opening new avenues of trade for U.S. companies, particularly in emerging markets. The export controls were last updated in the 2010s, which is a lifetime ago in the fast–developing world of space technology.
The space business in the U.S. is booming, largely powered by commercial development who are both serving as federal contractors and catering to the new crop of space billionaires, notably Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, owner of SpaceX. They’ve increasingly looked to exports to grow and have chafed at the state of federal controls.
Export controls on high–technology products can be a balancing act for regulators between wanting to open new markets and expand international partnerships, while limiting the possibility that sensitive technology—especially those with “dual–use” or military capacity—may be acquired or accessed by strategic foes.
China earlier this year tightened its own export controls on some space technologies. And to be sure, the U.S. export controls are still strict in some key areas of space technology, particularly high–resolution radar satellites—restrictions the industry considers well out of date.
The balancing act for regulators seems unlikely to get any easier any time soon.
