Report to The Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization

America's future security and prosperity have been inextricably linked to our ability to operate freely in space for several decades. From the mundane, such as using your cell phone, to the critical, such as gathering intelligence on terrorist threats, American life and American security depend upon space-based assets. But these assets are vulnerable.

This report, prepared for the U.S. Congress in 2001 under the leadership of Donald F. Rumsfeld, assessed the management and organization of the national security space activities of the United States Government. The report identified U.S. national interests in space and measures that could be undertaken to advance them. This book detailsed how the United States can best organize itself to protect its space-based interests, which are essential to our economy, our national security, and our way of life.

This report provides a summary of the organizations involved in space activities, focusing on the Executive Office of the President, the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the U.S. Congress. The report analyzes the management of national security space activities from the standpoints of interagency coordination, the relationship between the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Central Intelligence, processes for acquiring and operating space systems, the pursuit of "leap ahead" technologies, leveraging commercial and civil capabilities, methods of budgeting for space programs, and the use of space capabilities in exercises, experiments and wargames.

The report concludes with a set of recommendations to improve the management and organization of national security space activities in the United States Government, concentrating on recommendations directed to the President; to the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Central Intelligence; to the Department of the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office; and to the U.S. Congress.

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This annotated edition illustrates the capabilities of the AI Lab for Book-Lovers to add context and ease-of-use to manuscripts. It includes several types of abstracts, building from simplest to more complex: TLDR (one word), ELI5, TLDR (vanilla), Scientific Style, and Action Items; essays to increase viewpoint diversity, such as Grounds for Dissent, Red Team Critique, and MAGA Perspective; Seven Striking Passages, hitting the high points; and a special bonus feature, "Snowflakes from the Future", written in the Rumsfeld manner from 2024.