National Security Space Strategy 2011: Time to “Act” Instead of “Control”

Michaela Dodge / February 10, 2011

The unclassified summary of the National Security Space Strategy (NSSS) of the Obama Administration was released in January 2011. The NSSS is supposed to provide a guiding principle for the next 10 years for all government-related agencies that use the information provided by the U.S. space assets. Unfortunately, President Obama’s preoccupation with arms control won over prudent space policy guidance.

The strategy rightly recognizes that space is vital to U.S. national security and describes the three major trends that drive the current strategic environment: congestion, contest, and competitiveness. The strategic objectives are to strengthen safety, stability, and security in space; maintain and enhance the strategic national security advantages afforded to the United States by space; and energize the space industrial base that supports U.S. national security.

So what are the strategies to achieve these objectives? Considering that the constitutionally mandated obligation of the federal government is to provide for the common defense (and therefore protect U.S. vital space capabilities), the priorities in the NSSS seem misplaced. Instead, the NSSS brings up the old fallacious assumption that the power of example will prevent adversaries from doing the United States harm. Indeed, (more…)