Space –
The AY18 Space Industry Study approached industry analysis using the Harvard Business School framework of Structure, Conduct, and Performance. The framework was applied through academic analysis followed by gathering first-hand data in an extensive series of face-to-face interviews and on-site facility visits with leaders in the military, civil, and commercial space enterprise. This paper analyzes how to capitalize on the emerging small satellite constellation market based on its current and potential future capabilities to enhance resilience in the national security
space (NSS) architecture.
Rise of Commercial Space
While the origins of military and civil space are well understood and can be traced to early ballistic missile development, expanding surveillance technologies, and Sputnik, the evolution of the United States’ commercial space policy demands closer examination to set the background for this industry study. The U.S. military and Intelligence Community (IC) have long relied on unique and exquisite satellites for services such as precision timing, navigation and weapons guidance, imagery collection, missile warning, and weather forecasting. In a growing number of areas, notably communications and imagery, commercial capabilities have become a vital adjunct to the military’s own assets for national security ends. The importance of this role has been elevated given the increasing U.S. military dependence on space capabilities and emerging threats to U.S. Government-owned space assets. Commercial systems capable of supporting national security requirements, either in concert with or in place of, government assets augment and therefore enhance the resilience and robustness of U.S. space capabilities making the malign tasks of potential adversaries far more difficult.
The roots of commercial involvement in space date back to the Cold War competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. American interest in the commercial use of outer space can be traced to the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. In it, Congress declared that it was to the benefit of the United States for the concurrently established National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to “seek and encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space.”
The concern that the geopolitical rivalry and nuclear arms race between the two superpowers would extend into outer space culminated in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. The treaty addressed concerns between the U.S. and the Soviet Union regarding placing nuclear weapons in space. The signatories agreed to respect spacecraft and astronauts, and to accept accountability for the actions of their private entities. Furthermore, neither would claim sovereignty over celestial bodies nor would they place weapons of mass destruction in space.
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