Published on: 08 June 2010
Space Show Classroom Lesson 10: U.S. Space Policy, 6 June 2010
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1374-BWB-2010-06-06.mp3
Guests: Classroom, Dr. Eligar Sadeh, Dr. John Jurist. Topics: Lesson 10 U.S. Space Policy, what it is, how its made. Lesson 10 got underway in the first segment with Dr. Sadeh talking about the nature of political policy, some of the players in formulating space policy, and the priorities for NASA in the context of overall U.S. government policy. As you will hear, space policy is typically a means to another end. Dr. Sadeh provided us with several examples underscoring this perspective. In response to a listener question, Dr. Sadeh identified four space policy segments that overlap in terms of making policy. These segments were civil space, commercial space, military space, and intelligence space. He further defined each group into subsets. For example, civil space would include NASA but also NOAA. Don’t miss this set of definitions and explanations as we can use it for most all of our space policy discussions. Toward the end of this segment, we talked about the Falcon 9 launch and its impact on policy, and then I asked Eligar if the policy makers were at all concerned about the economics and costs of their policy; for example, the cancellation of Ares 1 and the sunk cost of about $9 billion plus another 2+ billion to terminate the program. Dr. Sadeh had some interesting things to say about policy makers and this type of concern and awareness. We continued discussing the economic awareness and concern of policy makers and I mentioned what was said on an earlier show about Europeans making plans for programs around the return to the Moon and then finding that the Moon was no longer on the table as result of the new policy proposals announced by the Obama Administration. Eligar commented on the wide ranging impact of policy and how often such impact and collateral damage is not well thought out by those making the policy. We inquired about policy as inspiration for education, STEM, and careers. None of that is a primary concern of most policy makers. Bruce from Canada called with comments and questions about our extremely partisan system of government and how destructive it was for good policy making. Our panel had much to say about this so don’t miss the discussion. This led us to talk about business as usual, vested interests, and all three of us, Dr. Jurist, Dr. Sadeh, and I, had lots to say in this arena. Dr. Jurist commented on the increasing complexity and fragmentation going on in government and the country, making it even harder to establish quality policy and not just with regards to space. Later in the segment, I asked Eligar who the policy makers were and he named a few but mostly talked about the OSTP, the National Security Council (NSC), and Congress. We talked about the influence of NewSpace and space advocacy on policy and we said it was increasing; the FAA AST is a good example of this. Toward the end of the program, we talked about Congress going to continuing resolution (CR) for the FY 11 budget and that the system is set up for feedback from the people through Congress and our elected representatives far more so than our communication with OSTP or the NSC. Space as a jobs program for policy makers was addressed as well as human spaceflight issues. Eligar offered an interesting way to view policy for human spaceflight when asked if the Administration plan was truly a possible end to human spaceflight as many suggest. We ended the program talking about National Security Space Strategy and the need for a national space strategy for the country.
Published on: 27 May 2010
New issues of Astropolitics and Space and Defense are in the process of being released. Astroconsulting International serves as editor for these two journals.
Volume 8 (2010) Astropolitics
- Special issue on National Space Strategy (see workshop report on the Astroconsulting web site).
- Report: National Space Symposium 2010
- Report: United States – China Space Dialogue Project
- “The Sino-Russian Space Entente,” Nikita Perfilyev
- “South Africa’s Space Program,” Keith Gottschalk
- “New Ethics for Space Commerce,” Gurbachan Singh Sachdeva
- “Extraterrestrial National Territory and the International System,” John Hickman
Volume 4 (2010) Space and Defense
- “Lawful Response to Attacks on Space Systems,” James D. Rendleman
- “The New Space Order: Why Space Power Matters for Europe,” Nicolas Peter
- “Europe and Security Issues in Space: The Institutional Setting,” Frans von der Dunk
- “Chinese Intentions in Space: A Historical Perspective for Future Cooperation,” Gregory Kulacki
- “Multilateralism in Space: Opportunities for Achieving Space Security,” Theresa Hitchens
- “The Prospects for NATO in Space,” Michael Searway
- “India in Space: Factors Shaping the Indian Trajectory,” Harsh V. Pant and Ajey Lele
- “Astronaut Envy? The U.S. Military’s Quest for a Human Mission in Space,” Roger D. Launius
Published on: 16 April 2010
Astroconsulting International announces the release of THE STATE OF SPACE AFFAIRS 2010 that features analysis and assessment of the military, intelligence, civil and commercial space programs of the United States.
- Purposes and Demands of Space Programs
- Funding Trends and Analysis
- Organizational Structures and Relationships
- Workforce Trends
- State of Space Education
- Human Resource Management and Policies
- Management and Governance
- Policy Formation Processes
- Implementation Dynamics and Issues
- Commercial Sector Engagement
- Role and Structure of the Commercial Sector
- Development of the Commercial Sector
- State of Telecommunications
- State of Space Launch
- State of Remote Sensing
- State of Satellite Positioning and Navigation Services
- Public Private Partnerships
- Global Space Business
- Economic Impacts of Space
- International Space Cooperation
- International Sanctions
- Critical Success Factors
- Lessons Learned for the Future of Space
Reserve your copy today (available May 2010):
- On-line PDF version $100, Hard Copy Report $200.
- Payment through PayPal – log-in to your PayPal account, go to send money and use e-mail address: Info@AstroConsultingInternational.com
Published on: 16 April 2010
The National Space Strategy Project is an effort led by Astroconsulting International, The Secure World Foundation, The Space Policy Institute and the National Space Studies Center to identify and assess issues surrounding the development of a space strategy relevant to the United States Government (USG). This project endeavors to establish intellectual foundations and concepts that will enable an eventual strategy to be developed.
Over the last several years, multiple “blue ribbon panels” and commissions concluded that the United States needs a national space strategy. The purpose of strategy is to coordinate, integrate and prioritize the space activities of the USG across security, commercial and civil sectors. Without strategy, space activities continue to provide great value, but remain removed from the overall strategic picture of the United States and it becomes increasingly difficult to identify and execute long-term programs, projects and goals. Optimizing the use of space for security, economic, civil and environmental ends is essential, as dependence on and use of space is accelerating and space is increasingly integrated in the fabric of activities across all sectors.
The release of the Project Report, Towards a National Space Strategy, summarizes the discussions and initial thoughts on developing a National Space Strategy for the United States generated by a group of experts who attended a workshop held 4-5 February 2010 at the Space Policy Institute in Washington, DC. A number of topics critical to development of a national space strategy were identified and divided into three parts.
- Intellectual foundations.
- Political challenges.
- Specific issues that crosscut security, commercial and civil space, including: space launch capabilities; space program and project development; spacepower and capabilities; space economics and commerce; Earth observations; space deterrence, protection and assurance; space governance and international cooperation; and the implications of international space strategies.
The end products of the National Space Strategy Project will be a series of articles to be published in the journal Astropolitics during fall 2010 and chapters in a book in the Routledge series on Space Power and Politics in 2011.
Published on: 16 February 2010
A specially-convened workshop of experts initiated a dialogue on how to begin developing a strategy for United States activities in outer space. Since the dawn of the Space Age, the United States has maintained a fairly consistent national space policy, one that has outlined the goals of the American presence in and use of space. However, while this policy has been updated consistently by many Presidential Administrations over the decades, there has never been a clearly defined strategy of how the United States would achieve these goals and coordinate the efforts of all the various entities in the United States which play a role in space. The Secure World Foundation, in partnership with the George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, the U.S. Air Force’s National Space Studies Center, and Astroconsulting International held a workshop in Washington, D.C. on 4-5 February 2010 to discuss developing such a strategy. The workshop brought together over 50 experts from the U.S. military, NASA, government, and academia to discusses different aspects of what would comprise a U.S. National Space Strategy.
A number of important reviews currently underway within the USG will impact national space policy. There is the Congressionally-directed Space Posture Review, the Presidentially-directed review of National Space Policy, the Quadrennial Defense Review and a review of national security space strategy. These efforts suggest that there is a window of opportunity to develop National Space Strategy for the USG. Several working assumptions were identified during the National Space Strategy Workshop.
- National space strategy can either be formulated as an overarching grand strategy or as a limited strategy covering specific areas of concern and common problems that crosscut the space sectors. Both of these approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, and in either case, strategy provides guidance for the United States and the USG can use strategy to evaluate and hold accountable the various agencies that implement space programs and projects.
- The USG does not suffer from a lack of National Space Policy, which is consistent and robust since the beginning of the space age. National space strategy provides a roadmap for connecting ways and means to achieve ends established by national space policy. In other words, strategy is the link between policy and programs.
- National space strategy development must advance on the basis that resource constraints and flat budgets for space programs and projects will be the norm. Within this context, space strategy development needs to account for how best to deal with gaps between policy, programs, projects and budgets. For national space strategy to be effective, it must serve as a guide to allow for decisions on requirements, budgets and operations, and for trade-offs that are necessary given resource constraints.
- A “whole-of-government” approach is critical for national space strategy development. In addition to a focus on hardware development, capabilities and operations, this approach addresses issues across security, civil and commercial space sectors and considers regulatory, diplomatic and legislative factors.
- Space users share a set of basic strategic goals: to secure the space domain for everyone’s peaceful use; to protect legitimate space assets from various types of threats; and to derive value from space assets for security, economic, civil and environmental ends.
Published on: 25 January 2010
Discussions at a number of fora and published reports demonstrate that there is consensus among military and political leaders that the absence of national space strategy undermines the capability of the United States Government to derive maximum value from space assets for security, economic, civil and environmental ends. Optimizing the use of space assets is essential as dependence on space is accelerating; space is integrated in the fabric of activities across security, commercial and civil sectors. Further, the development of national space strategy advances the coordination of United States Government space activities towards a unified set of strategic goals and interests.
Published on: 21 January 2010
Astroconsulting International in collaboration with the Secure World Foundation, the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, and the National Space Studies Center of the Air University are implementing a project to identify and assess issues important for developing a space strategy relevant to the United States Government. Without strategy, space becomes a programmatic endeavor that provides things of value, yet space activities are not optimally linked to the strategic capabilities and the national interests of the United States. The United States does not suffer from a lack of National Space Policy, which is consistent, even though at times there exist political implications due to changes in the tonality and wording. The issue for the United States is to address what we lack, a national space strategy – a roadmap for connecting ways and means to achieve ends as reflected in National Space Policy.