SEST 6567: Space Technologies and Security

This course examines the extent to which spacepower doctrine, concepts, and operations influence national security strategy and international security. It identifies key space policy issues facing the United States and places them in the larger context of technological advances and a changing international strategic environment.

The course will briefly examine the historical and policy foundations for U.S. and international space programs and activities. Key documents to be assessed will include U.S. presidential policy directives, Executive Orders, national strategies and policies, and other high-level documents that provide guidance to U.S. space sectors and activities. U.S. space sectors are defined as national security (military and intelligence communities), civil, and commercial. Efforts to expand international space cooperation and to counter other nations’ diplomatic and military space strategies will also be examined. International space programs, including those of Russia, China, Japan, and India, as well as other emerging and established space-faring nations, will be assessed through classroom lectures and in the context of a future space wargame.

Students will gain an understanding of: the fundamental characteristics of the space environment that define its national security and commercial utility and context; the interrelationships among U.S. spacepower, national security, and the international security environment; the role of space organizations and sectors in developing and implementing various space technologies, strategies, doctrines, and national policies; strategic choices facing other nations with respect to development and utilization of space capabilities, products, technologies, and services; and analyzing the contribution of space-based capabilities and technologies through a classroom exercise (space wargame) focusing on space and terrestrial foreign policy issues in an international security context. Emphasizing applied learning in preparation for students’ potential future careers, the class assignments are intended to expose students to different presentation and writing styles encountered in the national security community. Presidential directives, memoranda generation, and high-level but comprehensive presentations, as well as development and presentation of diplomatic positions are some of the knowledge and skills encountered in this course. Furthermore, similar to other operational environments such as air, land, and sea, students will also gain an understanding of the nature, terminology, and impact of the space environment and orbital mechanics as well as technology on national security policy and national interests.