Space Control and Commercial Space

Abstract

Space capabilities are vital to the US for national security and economic health. However, the majority of global space capabilities are not driven by US national security interests, but by market factors or by the policies of other nations. Commercial space revenues far outstrip government space budgets each year, in an increasingly global industry. The mission area of space control assures friendly forces can use the space environment while denying its use to the enemy. Space control encompasses space situational awareness, defensive counterspace, and offensive counterspace. The contention of this paper is that effective space control requires consideration of commercial space in each of these areas. This paper will describe the space control implications of today’s global commercial space industry, identify gaps in current US policy and practice, and recommend approaches to address those gaps in areas such as: • The potential for enhancing space control through economic, policy, and legal means. • The value of insight into the real-time availability of commercial space capabilities and both red force and blue force use. • The implications of new commercial telecommunications and information technology applications, both terrestrial and space-based. Space 2003 23 25 September 2003, Long Beach, California AIAA 2003-6288 Copyright © 2003 by The Tauri Group. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. Important and Challenging Topic The US space control mission is changing rapidly, as decisions about doctrine, policy, and programs are made. The high priority assigned to space control (that is, assuring friendly forces can use the space environment while denying its use to the enemy) is being driven by increasing reliance on space for US national security. Commercial space capabilities play a large part in delivering the benefits of space to US warfighters. The topic of space control as it applies to commercial space capabilities is a challenging one. Many decisions about space control for commercial space capabilities cannot be discussed comprehensively in an open forum such as those typically accessible to a wide cross-section of the space industry. However, because heavy reliance on commercial space introduces new uncertainties into space control decision-making, the industry perspective is valuable to US Department of Defense (DoD) decision makers in considering options that are unique to commercial capabilities.