Michael E Bodtke

Nato's Space Support Capability Michael E Bodtke

With NATO undergoing transformation to embrace out-of-area mission responsibilities emerges a need for NATO to provide the level of space support to all the NATO forces that only a few NATO member nations enjoy today. It is incumbent on NATO's nations to lead the effort to develop an organization to harness the collective space capabilities of NATO member nations and deliver them to NATO commanders and forces. The purpose of this research paper is to examine the actions needed to create an organic NATO space support capability by focusing on harnessing existing space capabilities and proposing some sensible counterspace actions to take. The paper outlines an exploitation framework that leverages NATO's existing transformation and resource structures to ensure that the forces get the capabilities and training they need to meet evolving needs. Lastly, several key policy issues are examined that must be addressed in order to break free of the status quo. Why is this necessary?