View Deterrence in the Last Sanctuary By Zack Cooper, Thomas G. Roberts PublishedJanuary 2, 2018 There’s never been a war in the space domain, but some believe it won’t be that way forever. For 60 years, space has been the exception: the one domain that has remained free from the scars of war. By better understanding the dynamics of the second space age, we may be able to keep it that way.
View Bad Idea: Space-Based Missile Interceptors By Thomas G. Roberts PublishedDecember 19, 2017 The idea of space-based missile interceptors is not new nor prohibited, but it is a bad idea. This piece looks beyond the policy arguments and explores the inefficiencies and vulnerabilities of space-based missiles.
View Why We Should Be Worried about a War in Space By Thomas G. Roberts PublishedDecember 15, 2017 There aren’t enough rules governing military behavior in the upper atmosphere.
View Back to the Moon? Understanding Trump’s Space Policy Directive 1 By Todd Harrison, Kaitlyn Johnson PublishedDecember 14, 2017 On December 11, 2017, President Trump amended the 2010 National Space Policy to redirect NASA’s focus to sending Americans back to the Moon.
View Bad Idea: Armed Drones in West Africa By Alice Hunt Friend PublishedDecember 11, 2017 While the use of drones in West Africa is an operational tool, Alice Hunt Friend contends that they will make the U.S. counterterrorism efforts harder to acquire.
View How to Counter a North Korean Missile By Todd Harrison, Tom Karako PublishedDecember 8, 2017 In this episode of The CSIS Podcast, Todd Harrison and Tom Karako discuss the future of U.S. missile defense after North Korea tested its longest-range missile yet, the Hwasong-15.
View Bad Idea: UAVs Aren’t Usable in Contested Environments By Andrew Metrick PublishedDecember 4, 2017 The conventional wisdom is that existing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are not capable of operating in contested environments. However, new thinking can enable the use of existing UAS to support operations in such environments.
View CBO’s Nuclear Weapons Cost Estimate Is Way Too High; Hint — Bombers By Todd Harrison PublishedNovember 21, 2017 The recent estimate on how much the next generation of nuclear weapons will cost by the relentlessly nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office differed from an earlier report by an impressive $800 million.
View Is Congress Creating a Military Space Corps? By Todd Harrison PublishedNovember 8, 2017 The House and Senate’s NDAA compromise has not expressly allowed for a Space Corps to be created, but it has made significant change in the organization of Air Force space assets and crew.
View U.S.-China Competition in Outer Space By Todd Harrison, Zack Cooper, Brian Weeden PublishedNovember 6, 2017 In this podcast, CSIS experts Todd Harrison and Dr. Zack Cooper along with Secure World Foundation’s Dr. Brian Weeden talk about the changes in the space domain since the end of the Cold War and China’s expanding capabilities, describe how the proliferation of space technology has impacted other countries in the Indo-Pacific, and assess the implications for international cooperation in space exploration.