RAND Space Reports

Breaking Glass, Missing Hands: Addressing Workforce Constraints That Threaten the Resilience of the Space Industrial Base

U.S. space defense industrial base workforce shortfalls threaten the ability to reconstitute space capabilities after a conflict. The U.S. Space Force must invest now in STEM pipelines, technician training, and automation to build surge capacity.

Alexandra Gerber, Jessie Riposo, Melanie A. Zaber, Bonnie L. Triezenberg

The Men and Women of Project Firestar—How the United States Developed the Labor Force to Colonize Titan: A Backcasting Analysis of Labor Force Requirements for U.S. Technoeconomic Leadership Through 2050

The authors examine the changes necessary to produce a U.S. labor force sufficient to sustain technoeconomic leadership through 2050 while achieving a prestige technoeconomic marvel comparable to the successful manned mission to the moon in 1969.

Daniel Egel, K. MacKenzie Scott, Michael J. D. Vermeer

Blind Spot Indicators for Space: Methodologies for Assessing the Competitive Balance Between the United States and China

In this report, the authors present methodologies for synthesizing space-related research and development efforts by the United States and China to project trends in future capabilities and operations that use space.

Louis Abramson, Alexis A. Blanc, Nicholas Blanchette, John Chen, Christian Kim, Baileigh McFall, Thomas Van Bibber, Maggie Habib, Garrett Hinck, Andrew Radin

The Weaponisation of Space and the Prospects for Insecurity Beyond Earth

As space assets increasingly serve dual-use purposes, the growing entanglement of commercial and military satellites and other infrastructures is creating a domain where ambiguity is not only a feature, but a weapon.

Mélusine Lebret

Lessons for Europe and Italy from Other Space Powers: The Civil-Military Interconnection

The study examines how five space powers structure the civil-military interconnection in space, focusing on governance models, strategic priorities, the role of private actors, and implications for security and technological competitiveness.

Karolina Muti, Mélusine Lebret, Gaia Ravazzolo, Andrea Grillo, Dimitrios Stroikos, Yasuhito Fukushima

Navigating Duality in Space: Establishing a Foundational Understanding of Dual-Use Space Activities

This report synthesizes findings from a baseline report, three international stakeholder workshops, and other team engagements to examine the global landscape of dual-use space systems and offers recommendations for future norms.

Bruce McClintock, David Glickstein, Krista Langeland, Anca Agachi, Mélusine Lebret, Karen Schwindt

Challenges When Collaborating with China on Space Research and Technology: Common Practices and Risks

The authors present risks of participating in space sector research with research institutions based in China and share considerations for assessing international research collaboration opportunities.

Cortney Weinbaum, Christopher G. Pernin, Camille Reeves, Libby Weaver, Shanshan Mei

RAND Research on Workforce and Force Development Innovation: Supporting the U.S. Space Force Transformation Toward the Objective Force

This document offers a roadmap of how RAND Project AIR FORCE’s Workforce, Development, and Health program can continue to support the U.S. Space Force in its transformation to a warfighting force purpose-built to contest and control space.

Surveying Duality in Space: Volume II, Europe-Eurasia Workshop Insights on Developing, Deploying, and Governing Dual-Use Space Systems

These proceedings share details on a workshop about dual-use space systems (those capable of performing both civilian and military operations) with space stakeholders from Europe and the Middle East from government, private, and research sectors.

Mélusine Lebret, James Black, Krystyna Marcinek, Anca Agachi, Bruce McClintock, David Glickstein

Surveying Duality in Space: Volume III, Indo-Pacific Workshop Insights on Developing, Deploying, and Governing Dual-Use Space Systems

These proceedings share details on a workshop examining dual-use space systems (those capable of performing both civilian and military operations) that included space stakeholders from the Indo-Pacific from government, private, and research sectors.

Karen Schwindt, Amanda Kerrigan, Jeffrey W. Hornung, Kristina Novakovic, Amal Altwaijri, Nicholas Kong, David Glickstein, Bruce McClintock

Surveying Duality in Space: Volume I, Americas Workshop Insights on Developing, Deploying, and Governing Dual-Use Space Systems

These proceedings provide details on a workshop examining dual-use space systems (those capable of performing both civilian and military operations) that included space stakeholders from the Americas from government, private, and research sectors.

Anca Agachi, Krista Langeland, Amal Altwaijri, Mélusine Lebret, David Glickstein, Bruce McClintock