Ancient Hebrews believed that the sky was a solid dome - a barrier called the firmament. Ancient Greeks believed that Earth, the sun, and the planets were surrounded by an even larger hollow sphere, and even when Copernicus developed his model of the heavens with the sun at the center, he still included this solid, immobile barrier surrounding everything. The concept of the firmament finally fell out of favor in the 1600s when Galileo invented modern observational astronomy. Four hundred years later, the United States Department of Defense is attempting to build a real Firmament - an impenetrable barrier in the sky - with the help of Elon Musk.
When Trump created the Space Force in 2019, many people assumed that it was just another weird Trump thing, like proposing to buy Greenland. In actuality, control of space (and cyberspace) has been a serious topic within the federal government since at least the end of the Cold War. In September 2000, the hugely influential conservative think tank Project for a New American Century (of which Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfield, and other Bush admin officials were founding members) published the paper "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century". In this paper, PNAC laid out its vision for ensuring that the United States remains the world's only superpower following the collapse of the Soviet Union (RIP), a goal that the US still maintains today. One of their "key findings" (as the paper calls them) is that the United States needs to "CONTROL THE NEW INTERNATIONAL COMMONS OF SPACE AND CYBERSPACE, and pave the way for the creation of a new military service – U.S. Space Forces – with the mission of space control." The creation of the Space Force does not belong solely to Trump, it was a long time coming.
Over twenty years after the PNAC publication, the federal government considers control of both space and cyberspace to be necessary to the "security and prosperity" of the United States. In the words of the young Space Force - "unfettered access to space is vital for our national defense." Cyberspace, a term that feels retro in the 2020s, is defined by the DoD as the "interdependent network of information technology infrastructures and resident data, including the internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems, and embedded processors and controllers." In other words, cyberspace is simply the global digital communications system. Space and cyberspace might seem like unrelated spheres, but the thousands of GPS, communications, and spy satellites make up a large and significant portion of the physical infrastructure of cyberspace.
But why the focus on space now, when we've been launching satellites for 60 years? In March 2020, NATO published an article explaining its newly formed space policy: "... Over the last few years, the rules-based international order and the security of the Alliance and individual Allies have increasingly been threatened, challenged or contested by multiple malign actors in multiple domains, including space… NATO is increasingly reliant on space for all its missions, activities and operations: collective defence, crisis response, disaster relief and counterterrorism – all depend on information delivered from and through space." My reading of this statement is that space/cyberspace is simply another domain that the United States must control if it wants to remain the "sole superpower and the final guarantee of security," to quote PNAC.
This brings us to what I've referred to as the Firmament and Elon Musk's role in building it. The Department of Defense needs modern, advanced satellites and a new communications infrastructure. The US desires a Firmament - an immovable and solid shell that surrounds the world and ensures control of space/cyberspace.
In the first large, real-world test of SpaceX's new satellite constellation, Starlink was deployed during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, effectively bypassing Russia's communications blackout. Ukrainian citizens have been able to access the internet through Starlink, and Ukrainian military forces have used it to control drones. Even though the DoD has stopped subsidizing Starlink in Ukraine reportedly due to its cost, it's clear that the proof of concept has worked. In addition to previous SpaceX military contracts for custom satellites that monitor for missile launches and rockets that can deliver military supplies, the successful trial of Starlink has paved the way for Starshield, the military variant of Starlink, as well as additional contracts for launching spy satellites. So far, the first steps in building the Firmament have been very successful. Thanks to Starlink, US soldiers - from Ukraine to Somalia to Indonesia to Peru - will soon be able to call down Hellfire missiles full of swords on any target the military desires.
Eccentric billionaires are useful tools for the DoD - what is Musk but a modern Howard Hughes? In the 1950s, Hughes' companies (staffed by former military scientists and led by former high ranking officers) developed multiple prototype aircraft, the first air to air missile, the first working laser, the first ion engine for space travel, and other advanced technologies. Today, Musk's SpaceX has developed a network of advanced communication satellites and the rockets to launch them. Despite Musk's insistence that he's some sort of Randian hero, he's just another spooked up defense contractor. Perhaps these connections are why Musk never faces any consequences for public stock manipulation (or maybe it's just because billionaires never face any consequences for anything).
SpaceX and the Space Force are proof enough that the upper echelons of the political elite and the military brass take space/cyberspace seriously, and that they are committed to fighting against the possibility of a multipolar world. And if a fraudulent emerald mine heir who wishes he was good at posting on twitter can also get even richer in the process? Well that's just the American dream, baby.