'Mission ahead, heavens above'

The next conflict may be decided by who controls space. But who controls space may be decided back on planet Earth. Even as low-cost, AI-infused constellations proliferate, the center of gravity for modern space warfare remains the terrestrial networks that bind them: ground stations, uplink nodes, undersea cables, and more. As China expands its space-control networks on a global scale—a focus of its grand strategy—its new infrastructure in South America, Asia, and Africa also m