United States Army War College

History of Space Policy United States Army War College

The emergence of the rockets during the Cold War provided the United States and the Soviet Union the ability to spy on each other from space and led to the ballistic missile. The Cold War was the focus of the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, and it was this war that drove initial U. S. space policy and strategy. The utilization of space quickly expanded beyond the Cold War protagonists, and unfortunately the domestic and international framework for developing space policy did not keep up with the world?s utilization of the space domain. From its inception, U. S. strategy for developing space policy lacked foresight. When it came to developing space policy, every administration seemed to start anew. This lack of foresight resulted in short term fixes leading to long term problems like excessive space debris. The international community also has challenges. With the number of countries, consortiums and companies with satellites on orbit, the international community?s governing body for space law and treaties is the United Nations (U. N.). Unfortunately, the U. N. does not have the authority, expertise or structure to create and execute effective space laws and treaties.