U.S. Military Space

Executive Summary Our nation's military Space capability is a vital component to successful U.S. and coalition military operations around the globe. Since the first gulf war in the early 1990s our nation's utilization of Space has increased exponentially. Our increased leveraging of military Space capabilities demands that we take steps to preserve and advance our technological advantage to ensure U.S. dominance across all mediums of combat into the next century. In todays fiscally straining environment many portions of the military Space portfolio are under budgetary pressure. In some cases this should be expected due to the size, cost, and complexity of many of these programs that, in some cases, are significantly behind schedule and over cost. Because of these pressures, and the continuously expanding need for military Space capabilities, we need to examine other viable options for Space partnership and funding. This policy paper is going to argue that as U.S. reliance on Space technology and capability increases, we need to define new paradigms for approached acquisition, operation, and funding of specific capabilities that support our largely coalition fight. Furthermore, our current Space strategy and policies are not 'international' enough, or rather; they do not establish international cooperation and partnership as the cornerstone of our policy as we move forward.