Space Education and Strategic Applications Journal • Vol . 2 , No . 1 • Fall 2020 / Winter 2021
Evaluating Space as the Next Critical Infrastructure Sector
Mark Peters II USAF Retired
Abstract
When one considers critical infrastructure protection , the default discussion too often becomes discussing cyber vulnerabilities as the only way to defend the homeland without considering whether all correct critical infrastructure ( CI ) was identified . When created , the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) protected those critical U . S . infrastructure categories identified by the executive branch with all military space infrastructure becoming part of the category called Defense Industrial Base . Other potential space sectors including television , satellite manufacturing , commercial launch , and global positioning disappeared into other CI categories such as critical manufacturing , communications , or information technologies . Just as military space required a separate armed service in the Space Force , the time appears right to implement a space CI sector including from commercial satellite manufacturing through launch and ground control to on-orbit missions as critical to U . S . public health , public safety , economic benefit , and national security . Starting with historical approaches to selecting and protecting CI , this paper expands to what sectors are currently protected , which space infrastructure matters most , and provides a qualitative CI sector comparison based on a hypothesis-based design .
Keywords : evaluating space , critical infrastructure ( CI ), sector , Department of Homeland Security
Evaluación del espacio como el próximo sector de infraestructura crítica
Resumen
53
Cuando se considera la protección de la infraestructura crítica , la discusión predeterminada con demasiada frecuencia se convierte en discutir las vulnerabilidades cibernéticas como la única forma de defender la patria sin considerar si se identificó toda la infraestructura crítica ( CI ) correcta . Cuando se creó , el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional ( DHS ) protegió las categorías críticas de indoi : 10.18278 / sesa . 2.1.7