In episode 99 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Gaining the Maneuver Advantage in Space: An Imperative for Victory, John Baum chats with Maj Gen Larry Stutzriem, USAF (Ret.), and Chris Stone of the Mitchell Institute, along with Dr. Christina Back of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems. They will explain why it is crucial to pursue next generation propulsion technologies to enhance space maneuvering. Today, America’s national security space enterprise is at an inflection point. Current U.S. Space Force designs are based on constellation architectures with limited maneuverability and few countermeasures. This means assets in orbit are increasingly vulnerable to attack as China and Russia both deploy new anti-satellite weapons and multi-layered counterspace architectures. However, this does not have to be our future. DOD has an opportunity to leverage decades of space nuclear thermal propulsion technology development to create a more agile and defendable space architecture to protect U.S. interests. Creating this new, maneuver-based force design will be a major step toward ensuring the U.S. Space Force has the attributes it needs to gain and maintain our nation’s space superiority in peace and in war.

Credits:

Host: Lt Col (Ret.) John “Slick” Baum, Senior Fellow, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Lt Gen (Ret.) Larry “Stutz” Stutzriem, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Chris Stone, Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Dr. Christina Back, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group

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