US war and proxy war around the globe continues as the US seeks to reassert its primacy over a rising multipolar world. As this global war on multipolarism unfolds upon Earth, the US is increasingly seeking to establish an advantage above the Earth — in orbit.
However, just as the rising multipolar world is matching or surpassing the US in terms of military capabilities on Earth, nations like Russia and China are also developing capabilities to match or surpass the US in space.
Both Russia and China have also developed and successfully tested ASAT missiles. Russia and China also possess advanced electronic warfare capabilities including those used in the US proxy war on Russia in Ukraine capable of targeting and disrupting Starlink/Starshield specifically.
China has begun developing its own comparable reusable launch systems and possesses the industrial base to not only match the current US lead in annual orbital launches, but eventually by far exceed them.
Recognizing the closing gap the US faces in terms of orbital warfare above Earth, Washington is turning to a familiar strategy it has been utilizing upon Earth — “burden sharing” and, essentially, proxy warfare.
Ukraine Joins the US Space Warfare Proxy Trifecta
In an early November 2026 article titled, “Ukraine’s new frontier: how space has become critical to balance of the war,” the Guardian reported on “Ukrainian” strikes on Russia’s Samara-based Progress Rocket and Space Center, which manufactures Russia’s Soyuz-2 launch system.
The article claimed:
“In the midst of other Ukrainian strikes against Russian refineries and industry, the Samara attack stood out, providing evidence of a spreading war, the geographical impact of which – already felt across Europe via hybrid attacks, and assaults on civilian shipping in the Black Sea – has crept into the domain of space.”
It also reported:
“Russia’s attempts to rapidly deploy its Rassvet network are not the only challenge from space that Ukraine faces. Moscow has also used Oreshnik ballistic missiles on at least three occasions – a system that launches into near space, then deploys multiple independently targetable warheads initially designed for nuclear weapons.
All of this has prompted Kyiv to intensify efforts to diversify its own access to space-based systems away from the US and Starlink, which was controversially choked in recent weeks, and to develop new space countermeasures against threats such as the Oreshnik.
Ukraine has conducted at least three tests of near-space interceptions as it has sought to launch its own sovereign satellites, joining a rapidly expanding number of countries working towards a foothold in space.”
In addition to Ukraine supposedly launching its own satellites, the article describes the development and testing of exo-atmospheric interceptors — a missile type only a handful of other nations have produced, including the US itself, Russia, China, and India. While Israel’s Arrow-3 missile is also exo-atmospheric, it was actually developed by the US (Boeing) for Israeli use.
In fact, the US developing and deploying exo-atmospheric missiles through its Israeli proxies serves as the template the US is replicating not only for Ukraine against Russia, but also the island province of Taiwan for use against the rest of China.
What the Guardian attempts to convince readers is Ukraine developing independent space warfare capabilities is in actuality the US simply generating plausible deniability for space warfare the US seeks to conduct via Ukraine – just as it is developing space warfare capabilities for its Israeli proxies vis-à-vis Iran and its Taiwan-based proxies vis-à-vis the rest of China.
The resulting outcome of this US strategy is the possible ability by Washington to carry out space warfare targeting Russian, Chinese, and Iranian satellite constellations as well as the ground-based infrastructure used to develop, deploy, and maintain these constellations, without having to carry out any operations openly and directly.
The “Ukrainian” strikes on the Samara facility in Russia was part of a wider US-enabled strike campaign deep within Russian territory.
The Wall Street Journal in its October 2025 article, “U.S. to Provide Ukraine With Intelligence for Missile Strikes Deep Inside Russia,” would explicitly reveal:
“The U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, American officials said, as the Trump administration weighs sending Kyiv powerful weapons that could put in range more targets within Russia.
President Trump recently signed off on allowing intelligence agencies and the Pentagon to aid Kyiv with the strikes. U.S. officials are asking North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to provide similar support, these people said. The expanded intelligence-sharing with Kyiv is the latest sign that Trump is deepening support for Ukraine as his efforts to advance peace talks have stalled.
It is the first time, officials say, that the Trump administration will aid Ukrainian strikes with long-range missiles against energy targets deep inside Russian territory.
While the U.S. has long assisted Kyiv’s drone and missile attacks, the intelligence sharing means Ukraine will be better able to hit refineries, pipelines, power stations and other infrastructure far from its borders, with the goal of depriving the Kremlin of revenue and oil to sustain its invasion.”
Of course, among the “refineries, pipelines, power stations, and other infrastructure” inside Russia the US is directing strikes against simply “through” Ukraine, are Russia’s ground-based facilities enabling its space capabilities.
The development, testing, and use of “Ukrainian” exo-atmospheric missiles will enable the US to expand space warfare through Ukraine to intercepting Russian ballistic missiles like its Oreshnik system, but also potentially targeting Russian satellites — all while maintaining plausible deniability doing so.
Regarding the notion Russia would certainly retaliate against the US for such an escalation — no such retaliation has yet taken place in the wake of what were essentially US strikes on Russian infrastructure serving its space-based capabilities earlier this year. In this sense, the US’ ability to politically capture and use entire nations against adversaries remains a potent “super weapon” in its own right, allowing the US to carry out aggression against nations like Russia without Russia being able to directly retaliate.
Any such Russian retaliation would be spun by the US through its enduring information dominance worldwide as “unilateral” and “unprovoked” based on the extensive narratives the US has used to create the illusion of “distance” between itself and the actions of its proxies — including both Ukraine and Israel.
Russian, Iranian, and Chinese Space Capabilities are Targets
In addition to strikes on Russia’s space launch facilities, the US and its Israeli proxies have likewise targeted such facilities in Iran.
In an October 2026 IISS piece titled, “Iran’s space-launch capability: grounded?,” it was reported that:
“In 8 April 2026, fewer than 40 days into the United States–Iran war, a White House press release claimed that 70% of Iran’s space-launch facilities and ground-control stations had been destroyed or degraded, ‘preventing the regime from using space for military purposes’. Though that figure is hard to verify, newly accessible satellite imagery confirms damage to the country’s two space-launch sites.”
The strikes expose the US desire to target and eliminate the space capabilities of nations among the rising multipolar world and serve as an example of the objectives the US seeks to achieve regarding both Russian and Chinese space capabilities if not sufficiently defended against or deterred.
With both Russian and Iranian ground-based facilities targeted and at least damaged, and narratives being generated to frame further space-based warfare by “Ukraine” as a being distanced from the US — it is almost a certainty that the US will continue to escalate against Russia’s space capabilities both on the ground and eventually in orbit. There is also the possibility of “Israel” using what are essentially US-developed exo-atmospheric missiles to target either Iranian military satellites or those used by China to provide Iran with critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance amid the US-led war of aggression against Iran.
With China, the ultimate target of US efforts to contain and subordinate the multipolar world, it should be no surprise that similar exo-atmospheric missiles are being jointly developed with the administration of the island province of Taiwan.
The Chiang Kung and Tien Kung missile systems are being jointly developed with the US in a similar manner as the Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 missiles the US developed for Israel, possessing the ability to not only intercept ballistic missiles at extremely high altitudes but also possibly be used to target and destroy satellites.
US aggression — both direct and by proxy — against Iran, Russia, and China — represents a unified global strategy aimed at destroying targeted nations by eliminating key capabilities including those in space. Iran’s inability to defend its airspace against direct US and Israeli strikes has resulted in extensive damage against its ground-based space launch infrastructure. Russia’s infrastructure is both better defended and more extensive, but has still been targeted and damaged by what are essentially US strikes carried out through “Ukraine.”
The US is currently preparing for another round of direct aggression against Iran itself, is distancing itself from “Ukrainian” exo-atmospheric missile development Ukraine in reality could not develop on its own without US resources and assistance, and the US is likewise jointly developing similar space warfare capabilities for its proxies in Taiwan.
This signals the US will continue escalating by proxy for as long as nations like Iran, Russia, and China fail to sufficiently defend themselves against US aggression — directly or by proxy — or until such aggression is deterred in the first place.
Until then, the US will continue using its global network of proxies to encircle and contain the rising multipolar world, through military, economic, and political means, but also through increasingly dangerous vectors including the so-far uncrossed line of orbital warfare.
The fact that Russian and Chinese capabilities (including in space) now match or even exceed those of the US — means the likelihood both nations and their allies are simply buying time to first fully close the gap, then widen it in their favor is much greater than claims Russia and China are simply incapable of retaliating against continued US aggression. Only time can tell for sure, but the more awareness there is about US attempts to wage war by proxy — including in space — the harder it will be for the US to do so — and thus accelerate its terminal decline and the permanent rise of a multipolar alternative.
Brian Berletic is a Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer.
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