Issues and Decisions Driving National Security Space Policies

Monday, November 23, 2020

SWF Director of Program Planning Dr. Brian Weeden gave a lecture on national security space policies as part of the 2020 Strategic Space Law Course organized by McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Weeden's lecture used a case study approach to discuss the issues and decisions that drive national security space policies. Examples include the creation of the first reconnaissance satellite program during the Eisenhower administration, protection and defense of U.S. national security satellites, Soviet reactions to U.S. missile defense, Russian close approaches and the French Defence Space Strategy, and satellite navigation policy. For each example, Dr. Weeden discussed what drove the policy debate, how it was resolved, and what the broader policy impacts were over time.