As the US Space Force sets up a “cislunar coordination office” to consider how the near-moon region matters for warfighting and national security, a new book on space piracy argues lunar bases could face sabotage, software hacks, or supply blockades. But an ac
The moon already has plenty to distract people with. But lately, the conversation around it has turned sharper—less about wonder, more about control.
The US Space Force is establishing “a cislunar [near the moon] coordination office.” The purpose is to think through “the importance of the cislunar region for warfighting and national security.” The idea isn’t abstract: if the US builds a base on the moon. the question becomes how it would defend that installation and how supply missions could reach it safely. That, the thinking suggests, requires some form of operational control of cislunar space.
That framing lands right on top of a separate, grimmer debate about crime in orbit. A 2025 book. Space Piracy: Preparing for a criminal crisis in orbit. by Marc Feldman and Hugh Taylor. argues that acts of piracy in space could happen—possibly by existing criminal gangs looking for profit. or by rogue states. In the scenarios they raise. attackers might hack a spacecraft’s software or blockade the moon. halting supplies to a lunar base.
Feldman and Taylor’s concern didn’t stop at writing. They have since founded the Center for the Study of Space Crime, Piracy, and Governance to talk about space piracy more.
Yet an academic review of the book by Mark T. Peters II, now retired from the US Air Force, pushes back hard. Peters concludes: “Despite some logical arguments. I cannot understand any scenario with viable space pirates… The book fails to demonstrate viable space piracy scenarios in any area other than cyber. which is already well known and understood.”.
Taken together. the facts sketch two different moods around the future cislunar region: one side is building an institutional focus for national security. the other is trying to map out how criminal activity could interfere with lunar plans—while a reviewer says the book’s most credible threat scenarios are limited to cyber.
Whether the Space Force’s cislunar coordination work will end up preparing for something like the worst-case piracy stories. or mostly for more technical disruption. the sequence is hard to ignore. The moon is being pulled from the realm of distant ambition into the practical question of who might be able to reach—then threaten—what comes next.
cislunar US Space Force space piracy lunar base space crime cyber security space governance Marc Feldman Hugh Taylor Mark T. Peters II
So basically moon crime now? Great.
I don’t get why we’re worried about “space piracy” like that’s a real thing people do. If they can hack stuff then it’ll just be cyber like they said. Still feels like money being burned for sci-fi headlines.
The review guy said he can’t understand viable pirates except cyber, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Like I’m pretty sure blockade/supply stuff is still piracy? Also why is the Space Force making offices instead of just preventing hacks… seems backwards.
“Cislunar coordination office” sounds like they’re trying to control everything around the moon which is exactly what everyone’s scared of. Then the book is like lunar bases could get sabotaged and supply blocked, but the reviewer is saying nah not viable. Idk, space is huge, but the government always acts like it’s gonna be chaos, and then it becomes chaos. Meanwhile I still feel like the moon has enough distractions already??