Space Education and Strategic Applications Journal
to successfully manage , deter , and mitigate Gray Zone activity , these nations must critically assess their space policy or lack thereof . Policy is the foundation for the implementation of strategy .
Creating a structured , sound strategy requires more than establishing objectives . It requires critically thinking about threats associated with activities outside of red lines . Furthermore , it requires effectively employing a strategy with clarity , precision , and advancement in space and counterspace technologies . Gray Zone challenges require a multifaceted approach to include examining policy , strategy , and cooperation agreements . However , to develop an effective strategy , nations must consider the value of cooperation agreements .
The Gray Zone requires nations to create policy that allows nations to defend their interests while outlining strategic goals in the space domain . Although having a space program is vital , it is not efficient enough to support the space warfighting domain . Nations must seek to establish polices to maintain balance and order within the space domain . Furthermore , establishing national level space policy allows nations to be proactive by addressing Gray Zone challenges in the space domain and set expectations across the space enterprise .
II . Defining the Gray Zone
Various scholars have attempted to define Gray Zone activities , concluding they are inherently ambiguous in nature . For example , Brands ( 2016 ) states Gray Zone activities are “ coercive and aggressive in nature , but are deliberately designed to remain below the threshold of conventional military conflict and open interstate war ” ( n . p .). These gray activities present a greater challenge for the creation and implementation of space policy because of the connection between space assets and critical national security infrastructure . Harold et al . ( 2017 ) argues that “ although space systems are designed to operate in harsh environments , they are vulnerable to other phenomenon ” ( p . 78 ). While there are various definitions of the Gray Zone , for the purpose of this research , Morris et al .’ s ( 2019 ) definition will be utilized . Morris et al . ( 2019 ) states :
The Gray Zone is an operational space between peace and war , involving coercive actions to change the status quo below a threshold that , in most cases , would prompt a conventional military response , often by blurring the line between military and nonmilitary actions and the attribution for events ( p . 7 ).
III . Space Policy Foundations
The two largest space domain competitors in the world today are the U . S . and China . As a result , establishing space dominance is essential to global market stability and economic growth . First , the U . S . established an official U . S . National Space Policy ( NSP ), which was intended to
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