Space –
This report culminates a semester-long study of the challenges, threats, and opportunities the United States faces in the space domain. The Space Domain Industry Study at the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at the National Defense University for the academic year 2020-2021 pursued the following overarching research focus areas:
Given recent Department of Defense (DoD) space policy reforms, renewed great power competition, and the rapid growth of commercial space activity:
a. How should the U.S. improve its ability to rapidly field operational space capabilities through industrial speed and agility to address Chinese and Russian counterspace threats?
b. How should the U.S. improve its ability to sustain and enhance the market health of the space industrial base by facilitating globally competitive, sustainable business plans with improved innovation?
Human space activity stands at a historic inflection point. A proliferation of counterspace systems and escalating competition among military space powers threaten a domain that underwrites U.S. military strength and powers the global economy. U.S. leadership in space is increasingly in doubt, and the nation must act immediately to build and sustain a long-term national competitive advantage in space.
Line of Effort 1: Rebalance U.S. Space Force (USSF) Resourcing
This report finds the amount, character, and investment objectives in the United States Space Force (USSF) Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 President’s Budget and Program Objectives Memorandum do not align with Cornerstone Responsibilities outlined in the new USSF Capstone Publication. The USSF budget must be fundamentally altered to reflect its first priority—preserving U.S. freedom of action in space. The USSF budget should: (1) increase the total obligation authority across the Future Years Defense Program; (2) increase Budget Activity (BA) 6.4 funding toward expanded prototyping efforts; and (3) invest a more significant portion of Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding in systems that preserve freedom of action in space to counter Russian and Chinese space threats vs. modernizing legacy capabilities. The USSF should also pursue a consolidated budget structure and retrain its acquisition workforce to master new acquisition authorities and tools with an “Advanced Space Acquirer” course.
Line of Effort 2: Reorient Select Defense and Intelligence Space Missions Toward Commercial Solutions
The growing commercial space economy provides DoD and the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) with increased opportunities to meet operational needs through commercial capabilities. This reorientation could significantly increase fielding speed and agility. However, broader adoption of commercial capabilities requires specific analysis to determine which mission areas are best positioned to harvest commercial capabilities and which commercial business cases are likely to survive and outpace government-centered strategies. The continued advancement of commercial space also requires routinely updated regulatory frameworks. To this end, the National Space Council (NSpC) should lead the interagency in assembling feedback from space domain industry advisory groups to ensure policies promote the expansion of the commercial space sector. Finally, the DoD and the IC can better capitalize on industry investment by forming Public-Private Partnerships (P3) that cultivate new commercial space markets.
Line of Effort 3: Refocus R&D Enterprise Toward Defense Space Challenges
Only through increased, consistent, and secure investment in Research and Development(R&D) can the U.S. move beyond the incremental improvement of existing capabilities to “leap ahead” advancements that will sustain U.S. space advantage. The DoD must refocus investments to maintain and build the defense R&D enterprise while also developing and fielding capabilities that counter rising U.S. space threats. Building the enterprise will both strengthen space innovation capabilities and increase speed and agility for fielding future capabilities. The DoD and USSF R&D enterprise should (1) focus investment toward solving defense-specific space challenges; (2) capitalize on University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and National Laboratory relationships; and (3) invest in a space-focused workforce by cultivating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) talent.
Line of Effort 4: Reshape Interagency and International Partnerships
The U.S. must continue to lead the development of the “rules of the road” for civil, military, and commercial space missions. This will require greater U.S. interagency coordination and expanded international space partnerships that increase interoperability and pool investments. Additional coordination and funding are needed to ensure the Department of Commerce (DoC) is adequately resourced for the Space Traffic Management (STM) mission. Space Traffic Management provides an opportunity for U.S. leadership of expanded international partnerships through the designation of the DoD’s Unified Data Library (UDL) for foreign partner use. To counter China’s growing investment in space, the U.S. could expand space-related cooperation with trusted allies like Japan. Expanded space partnerships should include co-development of dual-use space technologies, payload hosting, and collaboration on solutions for space debris. Finally, the U.S. must lead the international effort to set space norms and standards for responsible behavior in space. Without U.S. leadership in the conversation on norms, adversaries are poised to take the lead.
Read the report →