Creating US Space Command: A New Proposal for National Command and Control

Abstract

After nearly 50 years of dominance in space, the United States faces new military and commercial competitors in the space arena. The rise of peer competitors with military space capabilities, and the wildcard of private sector space development, has created enough concern in the US Congress that the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (FY18 NDAA) mandated the creation of a Space Corps and the establishment of a US Space Command (USSPACECOM) as a sub-unified combatant command under US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The creation of USSPACECOM presents significant policy challenges for the Joint Force which this essay will explore in detail. The problem is twofold: creating a new command and control organization for command of space and funding that organization. Despite these challenges, the creation of USSPACECOM presents significant opportunity to combine a disjointed space defense architecture into a coherent military entity focused on strategic operations in the space domain. In order to effectively coordinate US space defense policy and execution, elements of USAF Space Command, NASA, NRO, and NGA must be merged together under a military commander.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2018
Accession Number
AD1179040

Entities

People

  • A. J. Graham

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Command And Control
  • Commerce
  • Communication Systems
  • Department Of Defense
  • Geospatial Intelligence
  • Governments
  • House Of Representatives
  • Information Systems
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Personnel Management
  • Security
  • Situational Awareness
  • Space Operations
  • Space Systems
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • United States Strategic Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
  • Space