View Featured Space Threat Assessment 2023 By Kari A. Bingen, Kaitlyn Johnson, Makena Young, John W. "Jay" Raymond PublishedApril 14, 2023 This resource for policymakers and the public leverages open-source information to assess key developments in foreign counterspace weapons. Drawing on six years of collected data and analyses, this series describes trends in the development, testing, and use of counterspace weapons and enables readers to develop a deeper understanding of threats to U.S. national security interests in space. The past year was dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where space capabilities, including commercial satellites, played a highly visible and compelling role in Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion. Thus, this year’s featured analysis provides an in-depth look at Russia’s battlefield employment of counterspace weapons.
View Featured Battle Networks: The Three Part Series By Todd Harrison PublishedMarch 4, 2022 Militaries use battle networks to detect what is happening on the battlefield, process that data into actionable information, decide on a course of action, communicate decisions among forces, act on those decisions, and assess the effectiveness of the actions taken. Battle networks are sometimes referred to as the “sensor-to-shooter kill chain” (or just the “kill […]
View Featured Defense Against the Dark Arts in Space By Todd Harrison, Kaitlyn Johnson, Makena Young PublishedFebruary 26, 2021 This analysis from the CSIS Aerospace Security Project addresses different methods and technologies that can be used by the United States government, and others, to protect against or deter adversarial attacks via counterspace weapons.
View Mission Authorization: Decoding the Space Policy Dilemma By Clayton Swope PublishedJanuary 11, 2024 On November 15, 2023, the White House’s National Space Council released a legislative proposal that would create a licensing process for private sector novel space activities, called mission authorization, consistent with U.S. obligations under the Outer Space Treaty (OST) of 1967. Meanwhile, Congress and a government-chartered space advisory group have offered their own proposals. While all parties acknowledge […]
View Another Leap Forward: India’s Historic Moon Landing and the Space Competition Underway By Kari A. Bingen PublishedAugust 30, 2023 Critical Questions is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s). […]
View Does the FY24 Budget Request Reflect Defense Priorities? By Kari A. Bingen PublishedMay 30, 2023 This commentary was originally published by the National Security Space Association on May 30, 2023, as part of a compilation of views on the U.S. Space Force budget from national security space experts. While this is the fourth budget request for the U.S. Space Force, it is the first since the release of the Biden administration’s National […]
Congressional Testimony: Launching into the State of the Satellite Marketplace By Kari A. Bingen PublishedFebruary 2, 2023 Congressional Testimony focusing on commercial space competition submitted by ASP Director Kari Bingen to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications Technology.
View U.S. Space-Based Nuclear Command and Control: A Guide By Marie Villarreal Dean PublishedJanuary 13, 2023 The United States has long depended on a vast array of complex sensing and communications infrastructure to receive warning in the event of a nuclear attack and to execute nuclear orders. This command and control network is highly reliant on space-based assets to operate and provide dependable information to decision makers in the event of […]
View U.S. Space Force Primer By Kari A. Bingen, Kaitlyn Johnson, John Dylan Bustillo, Marie Villarreal Dean PublishedDecember 22, 2022 The U.S. Space Force, the newest branch of the U.S. military, is growing in complexity and mission. This primer presents a short history of the Space Force, as well as key details and internal organization.
View Low Orbit, High Stakes: All-in on the LEO Broadband Competition By Makena Young, Akhil Thadani PublishedDecember 14, 2022 Commercial LEO broadband efforts are providing access to the internet from space. With the potential to bridge the ‘Digital Divide’ and a worldwide market, competition between companies is heating up