Space May 31, 2024

The Strategic Necessity to Integrate Commercial In-Space Servicing, Assembly, And Manufacturing (ISAM) into United States Space Force Capabilities

The creation of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) reflects the growing strategic and economic importance of space. The rapid development of commercial space technologies, particularly In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM), offers the USSF opportunities to enhance its space capabilities and maintain superiority. By investing in commercial ISAM, coordinating with allies, and fostering market growth, the USSF can achieve long-term cost savings and innovation. The report recommends policy actions such as adjusting USSF resource allocations, stimulating ISAM market competition, creating a Space Investment Fund, and advocating for regulatory reform. These steps will help the USSF stay competitive and lead in space operations.

Space May 30, 2023

Transforming the Defense Space Architecture with the Tools of the U.S. Federal Government

2023 Antonelli Award Winner: The asymmetric advantage the United States has long enjoyed in space diminishes as adversaries threaten the space system architecture underlying that advantage. The U.S. space system architecture depends on large, exquisite capabilities and a ground segment to manage and link those capabilities. It was leveraged to devastating effect during warfighting in the nineties and proved that space capabilities could transform air, ground, and naval power. It also spurred steep growth in the U.S. space industry, which had both first-mover advantage and generous government contracts to grow its knowledge base. In subsequent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia have sought to neutralize the advantage by developing strike and counterstrike capabilities of U.S. systems through kinetic, non-kinetic, electronic, and cyber-attacks. They have also sought to develop their own industrial base to compete with U.S. industry.

Space: May 30, 2022

The Need for Speed: Leveraging Commercial Space Markets to Accelerate U.S. National Interests in Space

The United States’ space superiority is being challenged by the pacing threats of China and Russia. Both countries understand the United States’ economic dependence on space and the degree to which American military advantages rely on space-based assets. They have, in turn, developed capabilities and strategies to deny use of these advantages in the event of conflict. At the same time, a revolution is underway in the commercial space industry that has led to an explosion of new companies, capabilities, and business models that are democratizing access to space and rapidly increasing the opportunities available to the U.S., our allies, and partners.

Space May 31, 2020

The United States Space Force: From Science Fiction to Science Fact

2020 Antonelli Award: Since 1957, the space domain has transitioned from a protected domain for peaceful exploration to the ultimate high ground for great power competition. While the U.S. is the world’s most capable space-faring nation, it is also the most dependent on space, especially for national security purposes. Recent nefarious actions of great power competitors reveal that U.S. assets in space are increasingly vulnerable as the space domain becomes more contested. The U.S.’s freedom to operate in space is a key element of national power. As such, the United States Space Force (USSF) was created in December 2019, to guarantee domain superiority in the event warfighting extends to the space domain, and to secure United States (U.S.) interests in space in the face of rising great power competition.

Space Aug. 20, 2018

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.

Space Aug. 1, 2017

Space

U.S. space leadership is critical to national security, and must be gained, maintained, or reinforced by addressing challenges pertaining to technology, resourcing, and governance. This report analyzes the implications to the U.S. space enterprise from those three dimensions. Data gleaned from site visits, interviews, and firm analyses is used to ascertain milestones and trends. Recommendations are not limited to government policy reforms, but include those for industry and civil society. The report concludes with a call to action to the U.S. Interagency members, and proposes research that would inform a renewed agenda for space.