Space policy challenges facing the Barack Obama administration

Abstract

President Barack Obama faces space policy challenges in security, commercial and civil areas in an era in which the use of space assets for these ends is irreversible. The very future of space is linked to addressing the challenges within the first term of the Obama administration. This paper draws on, but does not attempt to summarize, discussions at the National Space Forum 2008 organized by the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies at the United States Air Force Academy and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. The goal of the forum was to examine the key decisions that will need to be made in regard to space policy by facilitating debate among the security, commercial and civil space sectors, and the broader national policy community. The paper focuses on choices which, for budgetary or other reasons, cannot be delayed. A brief discussion of the issues surrounding each choice is presented, followed by the implications of pursuing different choices. One key assumption underlies everything: resources available for activities in space will not grow significantly in real terms over the course of the Obama administration.