Publications

The FY25 budget reconciliation process marks a potentially transformative moment for national security space. A new analysis from NSSA’s Moorman Center outlines more than $25 billion in proposed mandatory funding for missile defense, space-based sensors, and space superiority initiatives—plus key insights on how this legislation, if enacted, would alter the traditional budget execution process. The paper provides practical context and procedural clarity on what reconciliation means for DoD, Congress, and the broader space industrial base.

Military requirements will drive initial implementation of President Trump’s “Golden Dome for America”.  In this new Occasional Paper, NSSA’s Moorman Center for Space Studies Chair Chris Williams posits a set of national assets that should be defended via the Golden Dome air and missile defense system and describes how even limited defenses will contribute to U.S. national security. 

The National Security Space Association (NSSA) official position paper urging Congress to double the Space Force budget to $60 billion over the FY 2026-2030 FYDP. With China and Russia rapidly advancing space-based weapons, cyber warfare, and anti-satellite capabilities, NSSA warns that failure to act now will leave the U.S. vulnerable to attacks on critical military and commercial space assets. The paper calls for immediate investment in missile tracking, counterspace operations, and secure satellite networks, alongside urgent procurement reforms to ensure the Space Force can deter, fight, and win in space.

President Trump’s Executive Order directing an “Iron Dome for America” further elevates the importance of U.S. national security space systems. In this Occasional Paper, Moorman Center for Space Studies Chair Chris Williams describes the role and value of space systems, including space-based interceptors, in an integrated homeland defense architecture and raises important issues that need to be addressed by Secretary of Defense Hegseth and other Department of Defense leaders.

Co-authored by Moorman Center Vice Chair James Frelk and Chair Chris Williams, the paper argues for increased funding for U.S. national security and civil space programs and operations, a multifaceted strategy to counter China’s cislunar space plans, and greater reliance on commercial space capabilities in support of President Trump’s bold call for aggressive pursuit of America’s “manifest destiny into the stars”. 

Authored by Moorman Center Chair Chris Williams, the report provides an update on developments in the on-going Transition process. This is the seventh report in the Center’s Presidential Transition Issue Paper Series.

Drafted by Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick and General William Shelton (USAF, Ret.), the paper provides insightful analysis and actionable recommendations for how the U.S. Government can rapidly advance Space Domain Awareness capabilities for U.S. national security.

The second tranche of the “Presidential Transition Issue Paper Series” aimed at informing the next President of key national security space issues that will demand immediate attention. 

Prepared by the Honorable Jeffrey K. Harris, former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space and Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, this paper addresses the need for “promoting speedier adoption of innovative new functionalities” and “radically accelerating the lift-off velocity of critical technologies”.

The first tranche of the “Presidential Transition Issue Paper Series” aimed at informing the next President of key national security space issues that will demand immediate attention.