The Space Force and the National Security Act: All New Endeavours Suffer Growing Pains

Abstract

The article details the history of the National Security Act (NSA), the National Security Council (NSC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the newly created Space Force (SF) in correlation to a changing political and international landscape from the 1940s to 2021. Primary and secondary sources were reviewed and included military and intelligence experts, interviews, as well as the foundation documents and laws for the NSA. Comparatively, the NSA and these organizations are examined in parallel to the evolving international political landscape. Also, these organizations all faced similar confrontations which include, but are not limited to, the reassignment of different roles, bureaucracy, and chain of command. Yet, the NSA and the creation of these intelligence organizations as well as the new branch of the military, the Space Force, are proactive measures for the United States to maintain efficacy, advantages, and potency in the domain of space which, from a military perspective protects satellites. It also includes the temporal use of individuals getting gasoline at gas pumps and the use of cell phones. Even so, all new ventures like the SF and the foundational NSA experience challenges, controversy, confrontations, and, at times, harsh critiques. Yet, the NSA’s broad-reaching security framework is still relevant and malleable to twenty-first-century policy, intelligence, and military needs. The NSA can and has met the current and future security threats like terrorism, and the new frontiers of space. Additionally, the newest member of the intelligence community, the Space Force, is a critical component to the United States military and intelligence presence in space.