Sustaining Our Space Enterprise: Strategy and People
Abstract
Since the inception of an official U.S. Space Program in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act, efforts to develop, deploy, and maintain U.S. capabilities and assets in space expanded to include civil, military, intelligence, and commercial organizations. Consequently, no single agency or department provides oversight and guidance on the billions of dollars allocated annually for space programs. Although a space policy exists which provides general guidance and direction, the U.S. lacks a coordinated space strategy to establish a unity of effort among the various departments and agencies supporting our National Security Space Enterprise (NSSE). This paper focuses on the NSSE, specifically the people that lead and manage it and the lack of a National Space Strategy to provide it unity of effort. The paper provides a brief history of U.S. space programs and the national policy that guides it to help frame the issues. It then elaborates on how the lack of a consolidated and overarching space strategy negatively impacts the future of the NSSE and discusses concerns regarding the cadre of space professionals required to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing environment and recommends possible solutions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 30, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA499165
Entities
People
- Wayne J. Smith
Organizations
- United States Army War College