Preventing Space War
How do we reduce the probability of a cataclysmic space war by redefining the way that space is understood and by laying the foundations for an innovative, interdisciplinary commitment to preserving space as a collaborative domain free from war?
Space war has been a concern from the mid-20th century onwards. Yet the possibility of space war – whether a war in space or the significant use of space for enabling war – is rapidly increasing at a time when our global society lacks the tools, language, and imagination to guide the conversations we need and develop the systems we require to minimize the probability of armed conflict in space. This project, a partnership with the ASU Center on the Future of War, will convene experts and stakeholders to address three topics: understanding the consequences and pathways to conflict in space, open-source intelligence for space domain awareness, and understanding how space, space ownership, and space conflict is conceptualized socially, politically, and culturally.
Key accomplishments
- Hosting the first Preventing Space War forum on May 17, 2023 in Washington DC. Watch the recording or visit the website.
- Stories published in ASU News and Space News.
Team members
Justin Chandler
Deputy Director – Chief of Space Operations Strategic Initiatives Group, United States Space Force
Melissa de Zwart
Professor(Digital Technology, Security and Governance) Jeff Bleich Centre, Flinders University
Daniel Rothenberg
Co-director – ASU Center on the Future of War
Principal Investigator, Preventing Space War Project, Co-Director, Center on the Future of War, Professor of Practice, School of Politics and Global Studies, and Senior Fellow, New America
Rob Sherwood
Principal Director, Strategy Integration OfficePrincipal Director, Strategy Integration Office – The Aerospace Corporation
John Thurmond
Principal Advisor – Geoscience (Emerging Technology) at Hess Corporation
Mr. Thurmond is currently Principal Advisor for Emerging Technology for Hess and has spent more than twenty years in the energy industry working across the value chain with a focus on innovation. He holds a PhD in Geoscience from the University of Texas at Dallas, and currently resides in Houston, TX.
