July 14, 2020

Stovepipes in space: How the US can overcome bureaucracy to improve capabilities

By Robert O. Work and Dennis Blair

With our dependence on space-based systems growing, and threats to them accelerating nearly as fast, the new U.S. Space Force is good for the country. A military service fighting to maintain our vital on-orbit capabilities, even while they are under attack, will be a key member of the joint war-fighting team.

Overcoming this impediment will require a personal push from the entire leadership of the Department of Defense, led by the secretary, as well as the intelligence community, led by the director of national intelligence.

Gen. John “Jay” Raymond and his staff are working a wide range of tasks to stand up the Space Force. They include important ongoing responsibilities such as space situational awareness and commercial satellite contracting, as well as planning for and exercising defensive and offensive missions in wartime. However, their efforts are made less efficient and effective by one huge impediment: the over-classification and compartmentation of both program and intelligence space information.

Overcoming this impediment will require a personal push from the entire leadership of the Department of Defense, led by the secretary, as well as the intelligence community, led by the director of national intelligence.

Read the full article in Defense News.

More from CNAS

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia