Space Power 2010.

Abstract

Abstract : A working lexicon is created to assist in the process of analyzing US space power and in developing a desirable vision for its future. The authors first derive a definition of space power and military space power by drawing on scholarly interpretations of the notions of space and power. The authors then describe five elements of military space power. Guided by this formal concept of military space power and its elements, the authors present six basic Space Power 2010 concepts of operations (CONOPS). These six CONOPS are space strike, information blockade, space denial, omniscience/ omnipresence, operational spacecraft and massively proliferated and networked microsat constellations. Tailored to address current deficiencies in US military space power, these CONOPS are exhibited in notional future scenarios and classroom briefings in order to help the reader visualize a variety of effects. Finally, the authors present technological, organizational, and doctrinal requirements, as well as contextual elements, for the Space Power 2010 vision. The research methodology involved first imagining what operational and strategic effects space power ought to be able to produce fifteen years from now, then devising operations concepts needed to create those effects. The authors attempted to perform this creative process in an unconstrained fashion. Later they compared the capabilities required to conduct the conceived operations with existing capabilities to determine how to proceed today.