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 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 Space Threat Assessment 2024 By Clayton Swope, Kari A. Bingen, Makena Young, Madeleine Chang, Stephanie Songer, Jeremy Tammelleo PublishedApril 17, 2024 of Space Threat Assessment by the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). For the last six years, CSIS has used open-source information to produce an annual assessment of threats to U.S. national security space systems posed by foreign government capabilities. Each report in this series catalogs yearly trends, uses, and advancements of counterspace weapons and enablers to […]
View Beyond the RD-180 By Todd Harrison, Andrew Hunter, Kaitlyn Johnson, Thomas G. Roberts, Evan Linck PublishedMarch 21, 2017 This report explores how the United States came to depend on the Russian RD-180 rocket engine as part of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, realistic options for the engine’s replacement in the coming decade, and potential space launch acquisition strategies for the future.
View Implications of Ultra-Low-Cost Access to Space By Todd Harrison, Andrew Hunter, Kaitlyn Johnson, Thomas G. Roberts PublishedMarch 21, 2017 To understand a future where the cost of access to space is only a fraction of what it is today, CSIS turned to a curated group of space experts, including launch providers, satellite manufacturers, government analysts, space law practitioners, and military strategists. This report details trends in low-cost access to space, identifies key opportunities for further cost reductions and policies needed to spur innovation, and explores new military missions that would be enabled if these trends lead to significant reductions in the cost of access to space.
View Options for the Ground-Based Leg of the Nuclear Triad By Todd Harrison, Evan Linck PublishedSeptember 21, 2017 The purpose of this report is to provide an independent assessment of the options available; including the impetus for the program, a review of the Air Force’s analysis of alternatives for the GBSD, alternatives to modernization, and key questions for policymakers to consider as the MDAP moves forward.
View Escalation and Deterrence in the Second Space Age By Todd Harrison, Zack Cooper, Kaitlyn Johnson, Thomas G. Roberts PublishedOctober 3, 2017 The second space age is more diverse, disruptive, disordered, and dangerous than the first. This report discusses the threats to U.S. space systems, deterrence theory in the space domain, and findings from a space crisis exercise.
View Space Threat Assessment 2018 By Todd Harrison, Kaitlyn Johnson, Thomas G. Roberts PublishedApril 11, 2018 Several countries and non-state actors are developing, or have already developed, counterspace weapons that could be used against vulnerable U.S. space assets. This report assesses open-source information and provides a succinct view into what space and counterspace assets China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other actors are developing.
View Spaceports of the World By Thomas G. Roberts PublishedMarch 13, 2019 With the rate of space launches projected to grow exponentially in the coming years, spaceports will become an increasingly important to the global space industry. Which countries and private companies operate the world’s most active spaceports?
View Report: Space Threat Assessment 2019 By Todd Harrison, Kaitlyn Johnson, Thomas G. Roberts, Madison Bergethon, Alexandra Coultrup PublishedApril 4, 2019 Download a PDF of Space Threat Assessment 2019 a new featured report from the CSIS Aerospace Security Project. Space Threat Assessment 2019 reviews the open-source information available on the counterspace capabilities that can threaten U.S. space systems.
