The American Security Project (ASP) cordially invites you to:
Asymmetric Threats and Space: China, Russia, non-state actors, and the need for quick launch capabilities
May 8, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Moderated by BGen. Stephen A. Cheney, USMC (Ret.) CEO, American Security Project
In the 21st century, an increasing number of critical national security and intelligence systems are dependent upon technology orbiting our planet. These technologies may be as covert as imaging systems over enemy territories, or as ubiquitous as the global positioning systems in the average person’s car. Regardless of the specific type of technology, the threats to it remain consistent. In order to properly prepare for the attack or destruction of key space infrastructure systems, the United Sates must support domestic suppliers and businesses on the forefront of the sector.
Join ASP Adjunct Fellow, August Cole, along with President of NexGen Space and former NASA advisor, Charles Miller, and Peter Wegner, Director of Advanced Concepts at Space Dynamics Laboratory for a discussion regarding the threats we currently face in space.
The conversation will be on the record.
The event will take place at:
1100 New York Ave, NW Washington DC
Seventh Floor, West Tower
Lunch refreshments will be served 12-12:30PM
The discussion will begin promptly at 12:30PM
We hope you can join us.
Please RSVP by Monday, May 6, at the following:
Charles Miller is the President of NexGen Space LLC, which provides client-based services at the intersection of commercial, civil, and national security space, and public policy. He has served as a consultant to NASA, DARPA, the U.S. Air Force and many private commercial space firms. He is also part of Horizons Strategy Group, which specializes in innovative solutions at the intersection national security and commercial space.
Miller is the co-founder of Nanoracks, which recently launched the world’s first commercial nanosatellite constellation from the International Space Station. Miller is also the former President of ProSpace, and served as NASA Senior Advisor for Commercial Space from 2009 to 2012. He has written extensively on cheap access to space, including how it is a strategic deterrent to war, and other innovative approaches to achieving our national goals in space.
Dr. Peter Wegner Dr. Peter M. Wegner is the Director of Advanced Concepts at Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory. In this position he directs SDL’s Internal Research and Development investments in new technologies and systems to solve some of the Nation’s most critical emerging problems in National Security Space, Civil and Commercial Space, Tactical Air-borne C4ISR sensors and ground systems, and Advanced Electro-Optical Sensor Calibration and Testing. Dr. Wegner coordinates a research portfolio consisting of advanced basic research conducted by university faculty and students as well as applied R&D conducted by SDL staff and collaborating partners.
In previous positions Dr. Wegner was the Director of the DoD’s Operationally Responsive Space Office at Kirtland AFB, NM where he directed a $120M/year budget and 60+ person staff chartered with the responsibility for developing a national strategy to develop new and innovative techniques to design, build, test, and operate space systems to support DoD missions. This included developing the ability to rapidly reconstitute and augment critical space capabilities in a time of crisis.
Dr. Wegner has also held positions as the Technical Advisor to Air Force Space Command Directorate of Requirements and a Research Engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate where he developed many key innovations such as the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (“ESPA Ring”) that has helped open the door for many small satellite programs to find a ride into space.
Dr. Wegner received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona, a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford University, as well as a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming.
August Cole is a writer focusing on national security issues. His fiction writing tackles themes at the core of American foreign policy and national security in the 21st Century, including the privatization of military and intelligence operations and the future of American power in the Pacific.
His research centers on how operational and policy priorities, political shifts and budget cuts impact the defense industry and U.S. national security.
From 2007 to 2010, Cole reported on the defense industry for The Wall Street Journal from Washington. He covered companies ranging from Boeing to Blackwater, as well as broader defense policy and political matters. From 1998 to 2006, he worked as an editor and a reporter for MarketWatch.com, a financial Web site, where he began covering the aerospace and defense industry. In 1998, he worked as an intern at the Freedom Forum’s European Centre in London and as an intern at the NBC News London bureau.
Cole earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Diplomatic History and French from the University of Pennsylvania and earned a Master in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He is also a senior analyst at Wikistrat, a crowd-sourced geopolitical analysis and forecasting group, and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
August Cole also authored ASP’s White Paper on American Competitiveness as well as National Security and Space – The Next Space Race.
www.nationalsecurityandspace.org
ABOUT THE AMERICAN SECURITY PROJECT
The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges. For more information, visit www.americansecurityproject.org.
