View On-Orbit Servicing By Hannah Duke PublishedSeptember 16, 2021 On-orbit servicing is an emerging industry that provides access to satellites in orbit for repairs, upgrades, inspection, maneuvering without regret, and debris mitigation. These capabilities have the potential to revolutionize logistics and resiliency of DoD operations in space.
Congressional Testimony: NASA’s Future in Low Earth Orbit By Todd Harrison PublishedSeptember 21, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlUNxnEpdfA The following testimony was presented to the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee during its “NASA’s Future in Low Earth Orbit: Considerations for ISS Extension and Transition” hearing on September 21, 2021. Download Testimony Chairman Beyer, Ranking Member Babin, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify…
View Indian Space Policy for the Private Sector By Meera Rohera PublishedDecember 7, 2021 The Draft Space Activities Bill and its Challenges In 2017, the Indian Department of Space (DOS) released the Draft…
View The ASAT Prisoner’s Dilemma: Making the Case for U.S. Leadership and a Unilateral Moratorium on Kinetic-Energy Anti-Satellite Testing By Douglas Loverro, Brian G. Chow, Brandon W. Kelley, Brian Weeden, Robert Cardillo PublishedJanuary 11, 2022 On the 15th anniversary of the first post-Cold War kinetic-energy ASAT test, it’s time for the U.S. to take a stance Over 70 years ago, two RAND researchers structured the fundamental tenets in game theory of what later became known as “The Prisoner’s Dilemma” – a description of a situation in which two perfectly…
View Commercial Space Remote Sensing and Its Role in National Security By Todd Harrison, Matthew Strohmeyer PublishedFebruary 2, 2022 Over the past two decades, the pace of innovation in the commercial space remote sensing industry has accelerated. The capabilities provided by commercial firms can be used to complement government space systems across a wide range of national security missions and fill in gaps in capabilities where the U.S. government has lagged. The challenge for…
View Space Threat Assessment 2022 By Kaitlyn Johnson, Todd Harrison, Makena Young, Nicholas Wood, Alyssa Goessler PublishedApril 4, 2022 The 2022 Space Threat Assessment covers the growing counterspace capabilities of China, Russia, India, Iran, North Korea, and others. It also analyzes several key events, including the 2021 Russian ASAT test, the supposed Chinese FOBS test, and Russian jamming in Ukraine.
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 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…
View 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 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…