View No Place to Hide: A Look into China’s Geosynchronous Surveillance Capabilities By Clayton Swope PublishedJanuary 19, 2024 China launched a remote-sensing satellite called Yaogan-41 into geostationary orbit (GEO) on December 15, 2023. Analysts expect the satellite to settle into a position that would allow continuous surveillance of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as Taiwan and Mainland China. Paired with data from other Chinese surveillance satellites, Yaogan-41 could provide China an unprecedented ability…
View The Pitfalls of Labeling Whole Space Missions as Inherently Governmental By Clayton Swope PublishedMarch 12, 2024 The Department of Defense (DOD) will soon release two strategies aimed at harnessing commercial space capabilities for national security needs. Defense officials have said that the strategy to be released by the U.S. Space Force will categorize certain space missions as “inherently governmental,” with mission criticality influencing which missions fall into this group. While well meaning, this approach does…
View Is There a Path to Counter Russia’s Space Weapons? By Clayton Swope, Makena Young PublishedJune 28, 2024 Why would Russia, the first nation to put a satellite and human into orbit, want to develop space weapons that could make parts of space unusable for up to a year? At first glance, it may be difficult to decipher Russian motivations. In 1939, British prime minister Winston Churchill famously observed that Russian decisionmaking was…
View From Earth to Uchū (Japanese translation) 地球から宇宙へ 日本の宇宙安全保障政策の変遷と日米宇宙安全保障の連携強化のための青写真 By Kari A. Bingen, Makena Young PublishedAugust 23, 2024 このレポートは、山本貴明氏の追加サポートを受けて、Google 翻訳を使用して翻訳されました。英語の原文はここからご覧いただけます。 This report has been translated using Google Translate, with additional support from Takaaki Yamamoto. This translation is current as of January 2025. The original English publication can be found here.
Gold Rush: The 2024 Commercial Remote Sensing Global Rankings By Kari A. Bingen, David Gauthier, Madeleine Chang PublishedOctober 1, 2024 Four leading institutions—the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Taylor Geospatial Institute, Taylor Geospatial Engine, and the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation—collaborated to produce a “Top 3” ranking of the world’s best commercial space-based remote sensing systems. The results should spur policy conversations about the importance of U.S. leadership, the state of global competition (especially…
View Space In Focus By Kari A. Bingen, Audrey M. Schaffer PublishedOctober 31, 2024 We are at a consequential moment in space. Space capabilities underpin our daily lives, our national security, our economy, and our ability to explore deep into the cosmos. Yet challenges to the domain and the international order are acute, and U.S. leadership in space is under strain. Actions and decisions now will determine whether space…
