From Kyiv to Taipei: Unraveling the impact of space on military power and Taiwan’s daunting prospects

In the wake of the full-scale Russian invasion, global attention has focused on Western military support extended to Ukraine. Much of this recognition centers on the provision of conventional resources, such as ammunition, fighting vehicles, tanks, artillery, air defense systems, and, of course, the famously effective High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). While media narratives fervently discuss escalation fears, indecision on NATO membership, delayed fighter jet deliveries, and ethical dilemmas surrounding cluster munitions, the most indispensable facet of support often goes unnoticed while quietly shaping Ukraine’s battlefield success. We are talking about space-based capabilities and their effects, encompassing overhead Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), satellite communications (SATCOM), GPS, and the associated Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR) capabilities. Equally impressive is the West’s unparalleled ability to draw from its innovative commercial space industry to source many of these capabilities. Most remarkably, however, has been the West’s commitment to harness the full weight of its comprehensive targeting framework—powered by space capabilities—and funnel them to Ukraine under the ambiguous banner of “intelligence sharing” from the onset.