Adversary Use of Commercial Space

The ability to exploit space capabilities was once monopolized by a few select nations. However, the advent of the Information Era begat an increased demand for space services that inevitably drove a responding supply. Today, space-based force enablers are commercially available not just to nations, but individuals, alike. This ready accessibility of space capabilities places both US forces and her space industry at risk. Successfully addressing this risk will require the coordinated efforts of the Departments of Defense, State and Commerce. To best quantify the threat, one must not only determine what services are available, but who is providing them. Unsurprisingly, Russia, the member nations of the European Space Agency, Japan and China pose the greatest menace as adversary sources of space-based capabilities and competitors to US industry. Naturally, these states also host the largest commercial service providers such as SES Global, Arianespace, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industry. The sophistication and state backing of these entities merit close and continued scrutiny. Having identified the sources, one may then assess the services. Of the spectrum available, the greatest equalizer for the opposition to US forces is secure, two-way mobile communications. This is due to its inherent advantages as well as the capabilities such as networking that may be derived from it. Of lesser, but still significant benefit is satellite imagery. High resolution commercial imagery is not yet available on demand, but data as old as several years may still have utility when assessing non-mobile targets such as structures and runways. In contrast to these threats to US forces, the main danger to her industry stems from the limited accessibility of space. Launch segments endure excessive operating costs and high risks. Single failures can jeopardize corporate survival. Foreign companies have significantly lower stakes in this arena because many share the burden of launch expenses with t