On September 5, 2019, the US Air Force Space Command held the Space Futures conference, at which it analyzed the development of the situation in space until 2060. Eight possible negative and positive scenarios were identified, the optimal of which is a “Star Trek future”, when countries with space programs form a multinational alliance cooperating in civil, military and commercial affairs in space. Today, the emergence of the Space Force, the signing of the Artemis Accords, and the creation of the NATO Space Center promise to provide the fulcrum for the realization of this Star Trek scenario.

However, such a future is not guaranteed due to the existence of unfriendly rival space programs of China and Russia. Could one or both of them launch a cosmic Pearl Harbor that would destroy the entire American GPS system, as the Blue Ribbon Space Commission predicted 20 years ago?

Will Space Force be able to integrate America's secret space programs or will they and their foreign counterparts will become an obstacle to its future operations?

The main question is how the existence of extraterrestrial life will affect the activities of Space Force and the space forces of its allies. Would alien visitors react favorably or belligerently to the Space Force's creation of a multinational space coalition to militarily project humanity's presence far into our solar system and beyond?

Dr. Michael Salla is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of international politics and conflict resolution and US foreign policy. He held positions at the School of International Service and the Center for Global Peace at American University in Washington (1996-2004).