Space Exploration

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Arming Teachers, F-16s for Ukraine, Commercial Spaceflight: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how teachers feel about arming teachers, what F-16s will (and won't) do for Ukraine, the need to regulate commercial spaceflight, and more.

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Enter Outer Space at Your Own Risk?

Since 2004, federal law has barred most participant safety regulations and leaves nearly all issues of safety up to the discretion of the company providing the service. It's time to allow the moratorium on regulation to expire and allow the development of safety standards, led by the FAA.

Douglas C. Ligor @DougLigor, Josh Becker

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Regulating Space, Threats to Critical Infrastructure, Psychedelics: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the need for governance in outer space, why the recent FAA system failure was a wake-up call, the changing policy landscape around psychedelic therapies, and more.

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U.S. Gun Laws, China's COVID Outbreak, Space in 2050: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on gun policy in America, the myth of America's “Ukraine fatigue,” the COVID outbreak in China, and more.

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What Might Space Look Like in 2050?

It would not take huge technological breakthroughs to make space and space travel a much bigger part of everyday life. Instead, it would take a steady progression of incremental advances—and one development in particular could provide the tipping point.

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The Calls for More Progress on Space Governance Are Growing Louder

Space may seem infinite, but the narrow band that hugs the Earth, where satellites and space stations operate, is not. Existing space treaties won't be enough to keep satellites safe, to prevent crowding and collisions, and to preserve the promise of outer space.

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Taiwan, Putin's Holy War, Mining the Moon: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on why China likely won't attack Taiwan anytime soon, Vladimir Putin's “holy war” in Ukraine, why it's time to make rules for space-mining, and more.

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Governance in Space: Mining the Moon and Beyond

Without further cooperation and agreement among space powers, multiple, competing governance systems may end up being established, further increasing potential for conflict. The time to address this issue is now, so that the use of deep-space resources contributes to prosperity, security, and freedom on Earth and throughout the solar system.

Jan Osburg, Mary Lee @MaryLee_PhD

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Veterans Health Care, Media Literacy, Sleep Retreats: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the challenges of VA community care, the importance of improving middle schoolers' media literacy skills, tips to improve sleep, and more.

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Back to School, Vaccinating Kids, Space Security: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the well-being of America's educators, the effort to vaccinate kids and teens, security in outer space, and more.

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Reduce Friction in Space by Amending the 1967 Outer Space Treaty

Space has the potential to be a domain in which current great-power competitions and frictions can be mediated. The international community might consider updating the existing space legal regime to ensure it meets current political, economic, social, and technical challenges.

Douglas C. Ligor @DougLigor

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Truth Decay, School Lunch Nutrition, Regulating Space: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on tackling Truth Decay, how tech experts view the military's use of artificial intelligence, a new approach to regulating outer space, and more.

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Outer Space and the Veil of Ignorance: An Alternative Way to Think About Space Regulation

There are currently no international binding rules that would address growing threats in space. Without more-defined and enforceable rules of war regarding space and space assets, the danger of a destructive conflict in space grows significantly.

Douglas C. Ligor @DougLigor, Luke J. Matthews

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The West's Response to Russia, the State of the Union, Outer Space: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how to prevent Russia's war on Ukraine from becoming a war with NATO, insights from RAND on the State of the Union, the future of outer space, and more.

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Where Chinese Science Fiction and RAND History Meet

Senior policy analyst Sale Lilly read about renowned RAND researcher Bill Mathers in an award-winning Chinese science fiction trilogy—but somehow had never heard of him before.

Sale Lilly @SaleLilly

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The Fight Against COVID, Sexual Violence in the Military, Disinformation on Social Media: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the ongoing fight against COVID-19, countering sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military, disinformation on social media, and more.

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COVID-19 Disinformation, Biden's Address, Leaving Afghanistan: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Russian and Chinese campaigns to spread malign and subversive information on COVID-19, President Biden's address to Congress, the planned U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and more.

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How Accurate Were Predictions for the Future?

Anticipating the risks and opportunities posed by all kinds of change is a RAND specialty. In 1964, using RAND's now-famous Delphi method, experts pondered topics like medical advancements, space, artificial intelligence, and controlling the weather.

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Pursuing the Extraordinary Through Space Exploration

NASA astronaut Dr. Mae C. Jemison delivered RAND's 2018 Haskins Lecture. She discussed how the pursuit of interstellar travel benefits society, the vital role science plays in our lives, and the importance of continued investment in research and technology.

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Mining the Moon for Rocket Fuel to Get Us to Mars

Students from around the world participated in the 2017 Caltech Space Challenge. They proposed designs of what a lunar launch and supply station for deep space missions might look like, and how it would work.

Gary Li, Danielle DeLatte, et al.

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Don't Worry About Russia Backing Away from Space and WMD Cooperation

Two symbols of U.S.-Russian cooperation are nearing the end of their life expectancies, the International Space Station and the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. But both stand as remarkable milestones of achievement and reminders of what can be accomplished when nations put aside political differences for the betterment of humanity.

Lisa Saum-Manning

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Space Talk Launches Politics Aside

Hundreds of guests packed the Cary Grant Theatre at Sony Studios Thursday night to kick off RAND's biennial Politics Aside event with a panel discussion on space technology, policy, and leadership.

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A Public-Private Model for Funding Space Missions

The future of manned space flight, including missions to Mars and other deep space destinations, will likely depend on the combined resources of governments and commercial enterprises, say Dave Baiocchi and William Welser.

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Kill the Space Launch System to Save Human Spaceflight

Even in the face of a budgetary spending cap and the ever-looming possibility of new cuts, NASA continues investing in a robust and diverse human spaceflight program. But with fiscal uncertainty expected to continue, it should consider reordering its spending priorities.

Peter A. Wilson

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A Future for U.S.-China Space Cooperation?

Published commentary by RAND staff

John C. Baker, Kevin L. Pollpeter