The Future of NATO in Space

Thursday, June 17, 2021

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) recently concluded a decade-long effort to develop a NATO position on space with the publication of the first NATO space policy, which declares outer space as a "operating domain". Yet many questions remain on what this means for the alliance, its member states, and future NATO operations.

To discuss these issues, the Istituto Affari Internazionali and NATO Defense College, in partnership with the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, held an invite-only workshop on June 17, 2021, entitled "NATO in Space: Challenges and Opportunities of a New Domain". SWF Director of Program Planning Dr. Brian Weeden was invited to participate as a speaker and provide his thoughts on the changing landscape of space security, the implications of those changes for NATO, and the role NATO could play in deterring conflict in space. Dr. Weeden provided a summary of the findings from SWF's latest Global Counterspace Capabilities report, discussed the need for greater space situational awareness (SSA) and resilience of space capabilities, and the importance of establishing both norms of behavior in space and working towards space arms control.