{"id":34200,"date":"2024-06-04T15:14:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T15:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2024\/06\/04\/nato-space-enterprise-must-throttle-up-or-risk-falling-short\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:52:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:52:41","slug":"nato-space-enterprise-must-throttle-up-or-risk-falling-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2024\/06\/04\/nato-space-enterprise-must-throttle-up-or-risk-falling-short\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO space enterprise must throttle up \u2014 or risk falling short"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The importance of space has been increasing for allied defense, deterrence, operations and resilience over the last few decades. This summer\u2019s NATO summit in Washington presents a key opportunity to build on the alliance\u2019s nascent space policy and structure<\/a> at an inflection point for NATO and space power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATO has made slow, steady progress on space policy for just over a decade. NATO published its first policy-level document related to space in 2012 and focused on space support to operations, but not until 2019 did NATO release a new space policy<\/a> and declare space an operational domain<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years later NATO confirmed<\/a> that Article 5 applies to space \u2014 a timely development that took place a mere four months before Russia\u2019s direct-ascent anti-satellite test<\/a>. In 2022, the NATO Strategic Concept<\/a> underlined the vital role of space for NATO\u2019s deterrence and defense posture. Based on the architecture provided by these strategies and documents, NATO has been attempting to operationalize its space enterprise in the past years in its role of harmonizer, enabler and coordinator among space-faring allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATO also exhibited substantive organizational changes that reflected a commitment to its policy. For example, NATO established the Space Center<\/a> at Allied Air Command in 2020, which has grown modestly and serves as a space focal point by sharing information about potential threats and space activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, in 2023, the NATO Space Center of Excellence<\/a> in Toulouse, France, was accredited. This center will convene more than 15 sponsoring nations to provide knowledge and analysis focused on three operational functions: space domain awareness, operational space support and space domain coordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATO also has introduced two projects to support its efforts: one looking up at space for better situational awareness<\/a> of objects and events for strategic decision-making, called Strategic Space Situational Awareness System<\/a>; and one looking down from space to enhance space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, called Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These developments are a good start, but they are inadequate given the growing threat to space security and the growing importance of space for NATO specifically and society more generally.<\/p>\n\n\n\t