The Changing Role of Space in the U.S. Strategic Posture

Ben Bahney; Program Leader, Space; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Abstract: Why is there a new US Space Force, and what is the role of space in military and strategic competition with major powers?  To better understand the evolving role of space in the U.S. strategic posture—and the implications of the coming decade of intensifying competition—we will review the changing role that defense space systems have played from the Cold War to today and we will explore new emerging strategic uses of space. We will then turn to the new challenges from Russia and China through the deployment of counterspace weapons and their growing use of space to enable their military forces. We will then provide a brief view of the likely 2030 space posture of US and China and discuss how space will shape competition, strategic deterrence and arms control in the years to come.

Speaker Bio: Benjamin Bahney is a co-founder and the leader of LLNL’s Space Program, encompassing all work at LLNL for space science and space security. In this role, Bahney oversees a leadership team that executes hardware development for space flight missions, software work for data science applications for space, mission analysis and engineering assessments for new missions, and new sensor development for remote sensing.

4pm on Monday, November 7, 2022 at the Banatao Auditorium, Saturja Dai Hall, UC Berkeley.

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