The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) has released a white paper calling for the designation of space systems as a U.S. critical infrastructure sector to help drive collaboration between public and private sectors and information sharing on threats and other vulnerabilities facing space assets and the space sector.
“Space-related capabilities have become essential to both national security and economic security, yet countries like Russia and China – which have advanced offensive cyber capabilities and anti-satellite weapons – have the potential to take them offline,” Larry Hanauer, vice president for policy at INSA, said in a statement published Tuesday.
“Designating the space sector as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure would make it easier for government organizations, the military, and commercial space companies to share information on threats and vulnerabilities and thereby enhance the space sector’s resilience,” Hanauer added.
The INSA white paper outlined the potential benefits of the designation, such as accelerating the development of best practices and technologies for ensuring resilience and safety, enabling the U.S. to form a national-level office of primary responsibility with oversight and resources to advance interagency efforts and identifying a baseline assessment of threats to space assets.
The organization noted that the designation would also help facilitate several types of collaboration. These include broad sharing of space-related data and region-specific expertise, greater awareness of threats and corrective action and analysis and case studies for the broader community.
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