Do the Right Thing: Balancing Military, Civilian, and Commercial Space Capabilities
Abstract
The U.S. Space Force (USSF) faces a daunting challenge under its mandate to organize American military activity in space with a very small number of uniformed Guardians. Capped at only 8,600 military personnel in 2023 with slow growth projected in future years, the service must service established joint space requirements while supporting new missions, particularly in the Protect and Defend portfolio to blunt anti-satellite technologies and secure military effects in the space domain. The USSF has little force structure allocated to these missions and growing them at speed will require tough decisions about manpower use and risk across missions. International and U.S. law and DoD guidance provide an initial lens with which to examine operational missions to determine which functions currently performed by the USSF must be performed by uniformed military personnel, which should remain U.S. government activities, and which provide opportunity for leverage the explosive growth of the private American space sector through contracted services.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2024
- Accession Number
- AD1227837
Entities
People
- Alexander A. Courtney
Organizations
- National Defense University