Iran’s Status in Turbulence of Space Powers’ Competitions

Crowded orbits full of satellites and emerging actors in the current space activity represent the role of technologies in space strategies. Furthermore, they highlight the risk of harming the national space security by space actors and non-actors from threats that arise from space competition. Therefore, actors such as Iran face competition with space powers, especially since it is predicted that in the next two decades, Iran would be considered as a developed country, with first class economic, scientific, and technological status in the region. In this context, Iran’s first domestically-made satellite launch demonstrate its independence from Russia and China in the space arena. Moreover, developing countries such as Iran, demand that the activity in outer space should not be restricted to any states. Due to Iran’s future challenges regarding an increase in the competition in outer space, the important acquisition of this paper is the active presence of Iran in space activities in order to resolve threats. Subsequently, following the analyses of Iran’s space activities’ status and the importance of space competition, this paper aims to answer the following question: what kinds of coercions in outer space threaten Iran’s national security?