The Quest for Security

The United States is faced with new and emerging threats armed with ballistic missiles that are potentially tipped with weapons of mass destruction. These threats posed by rogue states and terrorist organizations have the potential to cause catastrophic damage to the United States and its allies. A layered missile defense system is a method to counter their objectives. A space-based missile defense system would provide and additional layer that improves the overall system effectiveness. This paper will discuss the threat situation and weigh the technical feasibility of designing, developing, and deploying an effective space-based system to counter a limited ballistic missile defense threat. Additionally, the political ramifications of developing a space-based missile defense layer will be considered in the formulation of this argument. Finally, this paper concludes that a space-based missile defense layer should be included in national security strategy discussions as a viable means to defend the Nation and its allies against the increasing weapons proliferation and rapid development of missile capability by rogue nations and non-state actors. Given there are no legal restrictions, and the US is faced with a growing threat environment, the United States should fully explore a space-based missile defense layer through incremental experimentation and development while still concentrating efforts on deploying the surface-based portion of the missile defense system.