Conclusion

Abstract

Outer space is one of the five distinct strategic and geopolitical domains humankind currently utilizes. It is the one with the weakest human presence and the least developed technological presence. It is also the one presenting a future of mankind’s survival and development. Like it or not, the external influence from the outer space domain will 1 day wipe out life on Earth—be it a massive asteroid or comet collision, deadly gamma-ray outburst, or, in a few billion years, the end of the Sun’s life cycle. Terrestrial living organisms face their inevitable end if they do not become a developed space-faring civilization. Mankind has made great progress in the utilization of outer space since the end of the Second World War. It was not until 1942 that a man-made object crossed the 100 km line and entered outer space. In 1957, the first artificial satellite orbited our planet and in 1961 the Soviet Union successfully sent and retrieved the world’s first cosmonaut. It took only another 8 years, and the first human feet stepped on the Moon. Since then humanity made progress mainly in the area of space utilities, developing communication networks, remote sensing systems, navigational constellations, or weather forecast satellites. Outer space also holds an important role for military development. Remote sensing allowed the Cold War rivals to obtain reliable data on each other’s strategic capabilities, the GPS enabled allied forces in Iraq in 1990/1991 to successfully navigate in the middle of the desert, and communication systems allow forces in remote places like the Afghan mountains to receive commands and information from the headquarters in real time.