The Space Enterprise Initiative is a new one-stop shop for space research and related activities across RAND.
Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA
The initiative builds on long-standing RAND relationships across the national and international space domains to marshal the broad perspectives necessary for optimizing the exercise of space power.
Space is becoming more contested, competed and congested. This report covers Wilton Park consultations on how to define and promote responsible behaviors in space, ahead of formal United Nations negotiations to try to reduce threats to space security.
As the commercial space industry continues to grow in capability, capacity, and diversity, opportunities for the U.S. Space Force (USSF) and the U.S. Department of Defense to leverage commercial space capabilities are expanding. In this review of commercial space capabilities that could support the USSF's future space architecture and innovation ecosystem, the authors characterize capabilities and trends in the commercial market through mid-2020.
RAND was commissioned by the UK Space Agency to conduct a study exploring the variety of possible future uses of space out to 2050 and identifying potential 'game-changers' and the implications for the UK space sector. The research provided a description of how the way we use space will change, who the key space actors will be, and how well-placed the UK is to address these future trends in the space economy.
This study provides an initial look at the factors influencing the implementation of the Defence Space Strategy to 2030 as well as the unique attributes of the UK space enterprise—including its strengths and weaknesses. The study also includes a decision support tool designed to help decision makers navigate capability management choices along the 'own-collaborate-access' framework articulated in the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy.
Existing treaties and laws are not sufficient to govern space given the dramatic growth in space activity. Ensuring a safe, secure, and prosperous space for all nations may require the application of social contract theory to space governance.
