A multimodal network analysis of the evolution of the space domain through three eras

Authors:

  • Jonatan Westman
  • Linn Mattsson
  • Frank Guldstrand

Publish date: 2025-01-17

Report number: FOI-R--5682--SE

Pages: 39

Written in: Swedish

Keywords:

  • space domain
  • space actors
  • social network analysis
  • satellites
  • launch sites

Abstract

The space domain has undergone a dramatic evolution, in part due to commercialization, which has resulted in an explosion of state and non-state actors. Furthermore, space is now considered a domain for warfare. This results in an increasing need to better understand the evolution of the domain, its actors, and the relations between them. Previous research in the field have tended to rely on qualitative and quantitative analyses of individual actors. However, recent years have seen studies applying network analysis to the space domain. These use relatively static data pertaining to international agreements between states, or discrete time periods of data-sharing agreements between state and commercial actors. This work instead applies structural network motifs to a dataset containing satellites, owners, manufacturers, launch organizations, and launch sites together with launch dates, enabling a dynamic illustration and analysis of satellite and launch networks. Through multimodal network analysis, we study the space domain over three eras: the cold war, the perpetual peace, and the modern space age. Our results show how the space domain has evolved from a smaller network with two poles, to a period of intertwined cooperation, and finally a multipolar modern space age.