COLLEGIUMCOLLEGIUM
Hall of Shoulders

Space Strategy

Bleddyn Bowen

Bleddyn Bowen is known for Spacepower theory, the seven propositions of spacepower, command of space, space control vs. space denial, Celestial Lines of Communication (CLOCs). **Anchor works:** *War in Space: Strategy, Spacepower, Geopolitics* (Edinburgh University Press, 2020); *Original Sin: Power, Technology and War in Outer Space* (Hurst, 2022); "From the sea to outer space" (Journal of Strategic Studies, 2017). This dossier applies Bowen's strategic framework to contemporary space challenges. It is a citation-grounded reasoning aid for a COLLEGIUM review lens, not a biography. Every applied claim is tied to a real retrieved source listed in Section 5.

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49

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Review Lens

Adversarial questions for candidates

The falsifiable questions this brain puts to a dissertation candidate. They seed the pre-Conclave initial review whenever a candidate's topic matches the Space Strategy lens.

  1. 1

    Command-vs-denial test. "You claim your actor will 'dominate' or 'control' this orbital regime. Distinguish whether you mean *space control* (positive use) or *space denial* (negation of the adversary). If your mechanism is denial, show why it does not also degrade your own Celestial Lines of Communication, and specify the threshold at which denial becomes self-defeating." (Falsifiable: the candidate must produce a regime where denial is unilaterally beneficial; if every denial action also degrades the actor's own CLOCs, the dominance claim fails.)

  2. 2

    Geocentrism test. "Trace the terrestrial political effect of the orbital outcome you describe. If you cannot name the Earthward political consequence, the orbital advantage is strategically meaningless. Conversely, identify a case where your claimed space advantage delivered *no* terrestrial political payoff, and explain why that does not falsify your thesis.

  3. 3

    Determinism trap. "Does your argument assume control of an orbital regime (or a cislunar chokepoint) yields control on Earth? State the assumption explicitly. Then provide the counterfactual evidence that would distinguish your position from Dolman's astropolitik, which Bowen rejects. If no such evidence is available, your thesis is non-falsifiable astrodeterminism.

  4. 4

    Dispersal and decisive battle. "Identify the center of gravity in your space scenario whose destruction yields command. If proliferated/dispersed architectures mean no such center exists, explain how your decisive-action theory survives. What observable would have to be true for a 'space Pearl Harbor' to deliver command rather than merely provoking continuous denial?

  5. 5

    AI-command limit. "Where in your CONOPS does an algorithm make or shape a command decision? Per Hunter & Bowen, war's logic is abductive and machine learning is inductive. Specify the decision and show why it is reducible to induction, or relocate it to a human. If you cannot, your autonomy claim is over-stated.

Core Concepts & Space Translation

1 Command of space (the organising concept)

Bowen's foundational move, made explicitly against Colin Gray's lament about the absence of a "Mahan for the final frontier," is to propose *command of space* as the fundamental concept of spacepower theory, drawn by analogy from Mahanian and Corbettian seapower. Command of space is never absolute; it is always relative, contested, and temporary. The concept is "educational" rather than predictive: it disciplines how strategists think about who can use orbit, when, and for what. Key work: Bowen, "From the sea to outer space: The command of space as the foundation of spacepower theory," *Journal of Strategic Studies* (2017), DOI 10.1080/01402390.2017.1293531.

Space translation

See Space Applications below for how this framework translates to contemporary space governance, drawn directly from the dossier's applied-literature review.

2 Space control vs. space denial

Borrowing from the seapower distinction between sea control and sea denial, Bowen separates *space control* (the positive ability to use orbital infrastructure for one's own ends) from *space denial* (the negative ability to deny an adversary's use of space). A weaker actor that cannot command space can still practice denial cheaply (e.g., jamming, dazzling, ASAT threat), which makes orbit a contested commons rather than a hegemon's preserve. Key work: *War in Space* (2020), ch. "Commanding Space: Bluewater Foundations," DOI 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450485.003.0003.

Space translation

See Space Applications below for how this framework translates to contemporary space governance, drawn directly from the dossier's applied-literature review.

3 Celestial Lines of Communication (CLOCs)

Bowen reworks Mahan's "lines of communication" into orbit. Satellites and their ground links form celestial lines of communication that armies, navies, air forces, and economies depend on. Spacepower is therefore not about "high ground" conquest but about protecting, exploiting, and threatening these data and signal arteries. This reframes space warfare as a contest over flows, not territory. Key work: *War in Space* (2020), chs. "Continental Insights and Strategic Manoeuvring" / "Dispersal, Concentration and Defence," DOIs 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450485.003.0004 and .003.0006.

Space translation

See Space Applications below for how this framework translates to contemporary space governance, drawn directly from the dossier's applied-literature review.

4 The seven propositions of spacepower

Bowen distils his theory into seven propositions (the spine of *War in Space*). In paraphrase: (1) spacepower is uniquely useful and pervasive across the spectrum of conflict; (2) spacepower's primary effect is felt on Earth, not in orbit (the "Earthward" pull / geocentrism); (3) space warfare is waged for the command of space, which is always limited and contested; (4) the command of space does not equate to command on Earth; (5) spacepower exists within a gravity well and is shaped by orbital mechanics ("the geography of orbit is not optional"); (6) spacepower exists in a continuum with terrestrial strategy (it is "strategy done from, to, and through space"); (7) spacepower is dispersed, and concentration is hard, which favours denial and resilience over decisive battle. Key work: *War in Space* (2020), book DOI 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450485.001.0001.

Space translation

See Space Applications below for how this framework translates to contemporary space governance, drawn directly from the dossier's applied-literature review.

5 Geocentrism and the critique of astropolitical determinism

Against Everett Dolman's deterministic "astropolitik" (control of orbit = control of Earth), Bowen insists spacepower is *geocentric*: its meaning is set by terrestrial politics and its effects are overwhelmingly felt on Earth. He resists technological and geographic determinism, treating orbit as one more theatre subordinate to political ends rather than a magic key to planetary dominance. Key work: *War in Space* (2020), ch. "Astroculture and Geocentrism," DOI 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450485.003.0005; and *Original Sin* (Hurst, 2022).

Space translation

See Space Applications below for how this framework translates to contemporary space governance, drawn directly from the dossier's applied-literature review.

6 Spacepower's continuum with terrestrial war (no "decisive" space battle)

Bowen denies that there is a Douhet-style knockout in space. Because spacepower is dispersed and its effects are Earthward, war in space is continuous with, and subordinate to, the larger war. He also argues (with Hunter) against techno-optimist faith that AI will "solve" command, because the nature of war is abductive while machine learning is inductive. Key work: Hunter & Bowen, "We'll never have a model of an AI major-general," *Journal of Strategic Studies* (2023), DOI 10.1080/01402390.2023.2241648.

Space translation

See Space Applications below for how this framework translates to contemporary space governance, drawn directly from the dossier's applied-literature review.