Other Reports of Interest

In addition to reports from GAO and the National Academies (listed separately), many books, reports, articles, and other types of publications from government agencies, academics and other experts, and organizations may be of interest to space policy aficionados.

The following two lists are provided of selected publications that may be of special interest or enduring impact.

The first set includes the products of government agencies or commissions created by presidents or Congress.
The second set includes the products of individuals or non-governmental organizations.

Set 1: Government Agencies and Commissions, Congress

2024

U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. 2024 Annual Report to Congress. November 2024.
NASA. Going Beyond: The Space Exploration Initiative and the Challenges of Organizational Change at NASA, by John Logsdon. Monographs in Aerospace History No. 58. October 2024.
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President FY2023 Activities. May 2024.
NASA Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy. Cost and Benefit Analysis of Mitigating, Tracking, and Remediating Orbital Debris. May 2024.
Director of National Intelligence. Annual Threat Assessment: Intelligence Community Assessment. February 2024.
NASA Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy. Space-Based Solar Power. January 2024.
NASA. Spinoff 2024. January 2024.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2023. January 2024.

2023

U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. 2023 Annual Report to Congress. November 2023.
Department of Defense. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2023. (China Military Power Report 2023) October 2023.
FAA/Aerospace Corp. Report to Congress: Risk Associated with Reentry Disposal of Satellites from Proposed Large Constellations in Low Earth Orbit. September 2023.
NASA Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy. Artemis, Ethics and Society: Synthesis from a Workshop. September 2023.
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: FY2021 and FY2022 Activities. May 2023.
FAA/RAND. Assessing the Readiness for Human Commercial Spaceflight Safety Regulations: Charting a Trajectory from Revolutionary to Routine Travel. April 2023. [written by RAND for the FAA in response to direction in the 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, CSLCA]
NASA Planetary Defense Strategy and Action Plan. April 2023.
NASA. FY2021 Economic Impact Report State Fact Sheets. March 2023.
NASA Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy. Mars Transportation Assessment Study. March 2023.
Director of National Intelligence. Annual Threat Assessment: Intelligence Community Assessment. March 2023.
NASA Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy. Cost and Benefit Analysis of Orbital Debris Remediation. March 2023.
NASA. Spinoff 2023. January 2023.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2022. January 2023.

2022

NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the Presisdent FY2020. December 2022.
Department of Defense. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2022. (China Military Power Report 2022) November 2022
U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. 2022 Annual Report to Congress. November 2022.
NASA Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy. Lunar Landing and Operations Policy Analysis. October 2022.
NASA/University of Illinois Chicago. Economic Impact Study of NASA & Moon to Mars Campaign & Agency Investments in Climate Change Research and Technology. October 2022. [A summary is also available.]
NASA. A History of Near-Earth Objects Research. Erik M. Conway, Donald K, Yeomans, and Meg Rosenburg. August 2022. NASA SP-2022-4235
DOD [U.S. Space Force, Defense Innovation Unit, Air Force Research Laboratory]. State of the Space Industrial Base 2022: Winning the New Space Race for Sustainability, Prosperity and the Planet. Peter Garrettson, ed. August 2022.
DOD Inspector General. Evaluation of the Air Force Selection Process for the Permanent Location of the U.S. Space Command Headquarters. Report No. DODIG-2022-096. May 2022.
NASA. Spinoff 2022. January 2022.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2021. January 2022.

2021

DOD [U.S. Space Force, Defense Innovation Unit, Air Force Research Laboratory]. State of the Space Industrial Base 2021: Infrastructure & Services for Economic Growth & National Security. Peter Garrettson, ed. November 2021.
DOD. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2021. (China Military Power Report 2021.) November 2021
U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. 2021 Annual Report to Congress. November 2021.
Donald J. Trump Administration. Final Report on the Activities of the National Space Council: Renewing America’s Proud Legacy of Leadership in Space: Activities of the National Space Council and United States Space Enterprise, January 2021
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2020. January 2021.

2020

U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. 2020 Annual Report to Congress. December 2020.
DOD. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2020. (“China Military Power Report 2021.”) September 2020
International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG). Global Exploration Roadmap Supplement: Lunar Surface Exploration Scenario Update. August 2020.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2019. January 2020.

2019

U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. 2019 Annual Report to Congress. November 2019.
DOD. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2019. (“China Military Power Report”). May 2019.
U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. China’s Pursuit of Space Power: Status and Implications for the United States. By Alexander Bowe, April 2019.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2018. February 2019.
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Challenges to Security in Space. January 2019.

2018

National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). Competing in Space. December 2018. (Released January 2019)
U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission. 2018 Annual Report to Congress. November 2018.
NASA. National Space Exploration Campaign Report. Pursuant to Section 432 (b) of the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-10) September 2018
DOD. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2018. (Also known as the “Chinese Military Power” 2018 report.)
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: FY2017. July 2018.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Protecting and Preserving Apollo Program Lunar Landing Sites and Artifacts. March 2018.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2017. January 11, 2018.
FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2018
International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG). Global Exploration Roadmap. January 2018.

2017

U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. 2017 Report to Congress. November 2017.
White House National Space Council. Remarks of Scott Pace, Executive Secretary, on Space Development, Law, and Values, presented to the 12th Eilene M. Galloway Symposium on Critical Issues in Space Law, December 13, 2017.
NASA. Joseph K. Alexander. Science Advice to Congress: Conflict, Consensus, Partnership, Leadership. August 2017.
Defense Intelligence Agency. Russia Military Power: 2017.
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 2016 Activities. June 2017.
DOD. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2017. (Also known as the “Chinese Military Power” report.) June 6, 2017.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2016. January 11, 2017.

2016

U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. 2016 Report to Congress. November 2016.
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 2015 Activities (May 2016). Note: Appendix D-1A/ D-1B contains two tables showing space funding in each relevant Federal Government agency since NASA was created. The budget numbers for the Department of Defense (DOD) drop suddenly in FY2013 because the officials at the White House Office of Management and Budget who create those tables excluded intelligence satellites, whereas they are included in prior year totals. That is explained in footnote 3 to the subsequent table in Appendix D-2.
DOD. Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2016. (Also known as the “Chinese Military Power” report). April 26, 2016.
FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2016. February 2016.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel: Annual Report for 2015. January 13, 2016.

2015

U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. 2015 Report to Congress. November 18, 2015.
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 2014 Activities [May 2015]. Note: Appendix D-1A/ D-1B contains two tables showing space funding in each relevant Federal Government agency since NASA was created. The budget numbers for the Department of Defense (DOD) drop suddenly in FY2013 because the officials at the White House Office of Management and Budget who create those tables excluded intelligence satellites, whereas they are included in prior year totals. That is explained in footnote 3 to the subsequent table in Appendix D-2.
DOD. Military and Security Developments in China, 2015. (Also known as the “Chinese Military Power” report). May 8, 2015.
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 2013 Activities. [April 2015] Note: Appendix D-1A/ D-1B contains two tables showing space funding in each relevant Federal Government agency since NASA was created. The budget numbers for the Department of Defense (DOD) drop suddenly in FY2013 because the officials at the White House Office of Management and Budget who create those tables excluded intelligence satellites, whereas they are included in prior year totals. That is explained in footnote 3 to the next table in Appendix D-2.
NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 2012 Activities. [circa February 2015]
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) Annual Report for 2014. January 28, 2015. (SpacePolicyOnline.com published a summary of the report on January 28, 2015)

2014

NASA. Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 2011 Activities. [September 2014.]
Roger Launius. Historical Analogs for the Stimulation of Space Commerce. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 54. NASA, Washington, DC.
Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2014 (annual “Chinese Military Power” report). Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense, June 2014.
Draft International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. (fourth revision) European Union. 31 March 2014
NASA. Spinoff 2013. April 2013.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel annual Report for 2013. January 2014.

2013

Draft International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities (third revision). European Union. 16 September 2013.
Global Exploration Roadmap. International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG, including NASA and other international governmental space agencies). August 2013. (Update)
NASA Office of Inspector General. Audit Report. NASA’s Management of the Commercial Crew Program. Report No. IG-14-001 (Assignment No. A–12-024-01) [Excellent history of the commercial crew program]
NASA Office of Inspector General. Audit Report. Commercial Cargo: NASA’s Management of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services and ISS Commercial Resupply Contracts. Report No. IG-13-016 (Assignment No. A-12-024-00). June 13, 2013. [In addition to providing its audit finding that NASA should restructure its payment schedule to Orbital Sciences Corp., the 46 page report provides an excellent history of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program.)
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) annual report for 2012.

2012

Departments of Defense and State. Risk Assessment of United States Space Export Control Policy. Report to Congress. Section 1248 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Public Law 111-84). (The “sec. 1248 report”) Released April 18, 2012.
White House Fact Sheet on the Sec. 1248 report, April 18, 2012.
Boris Chertok and Asif Siddiqi. Rockets and People: Volume 4 — The Moon Race. NASA SP-2011-4110. This is the fourth and final volume of memoirs of legendary Russian spacecraft designer Boris Chertok, published in February 2012.
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) annual report for 2011, NASA, ASAP, January 2012.

2011

Hearing Charter for House Science, Space and Technology Committee Hearing on James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) tracing the evolution of the program’s cost estimate from $500 million to $8.8 billion. December 6, 2011.
Global Exploration Roadmap. International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG, including NASA and other international governmental space agencies). September 2011. (First version, stemming from 2007 Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination.)
Commercial Space Transportation: 2010 Year in Review. Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation. (cover date: January 2011)
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel 2010 Report. NASA, ASAP, January 2011.

2010

European Union’s Revised Draft Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities, October 2010.
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Independent Comprehensive Review Panel (ICRP) (the Casani report), October 2010.
President Barack Obama. Remarks by the President on Space Exploration in the 21st Century. Kennedy Space Center, April 15, 2010.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) 2009 report. January 2010.

2009

Report of the Human Spaceflight Plans Committee (the 2009 Augustine Committee). Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation. Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Report of the Independent Review Team on the National Polar-orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), or the “Tom Young NPOESS Report.” This report was made available on the website of the House Science and Technology Committee as part of its June 17, 2009 hearing on NPOESS, but that link no longer is active. SpacePolicyOnline.com downloaded it from that site, so even though it is labeled For Official Use Only, it was made publicly available at the time of the hearing and we will continue to make it available.
The Budgetary Implications of NASA’s Current Plans for Space Exploration. Congressional Budget Office. April 2009.
NASA. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel 2008 Annual Report. April 2009.
Independent Assessment Panel on the Organization and Management of National Security Space (the “Allard Commission” report). Then-Senator Wayne Allard, who sponsored the legislative provision that created the Independent Assessment Panel on the Organization and Management of National Security Space, detailed the panel’s findings in a speech to the U.S. Senate on November 19, 2008. The panel was chaired by Mr. A. Thomas Young. Sen. Allard had left the Senate by the time the report was completed, so the letter of submittal is addressed to Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Pre-2008

The congressional Office of Technology Assessment (1972-1995) published many reports about the space program that are still relevant today. Princeton University hosts an online archive of the complete library of OTA reports.
A Journey to Inspire, Innovate and Discover: Report of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Exploration Policy (the “Aldridge Report”). June 2004. Chaired by E.C. “Pete” Aldridge, Jr.
Report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, which investigated the 2003 space shuttle Columbia tragedy (the CAIB report). August 26, 2003. Chaired by Adm. Harold Gehman (Ret.)
Anyone, Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: Final Report of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry (the “Walker report”). November 2002. Chaired by the Honorable Robert S. Walker.
Report of the Commission to Assess U.S. National Security Space Management and Organization (the Rumsfeld “Space Commission” Report). January 2001. Chaired by Mr. Donald Rumsfeld. [Mr. Rumsfeld previously chaired a commission on ballistic missile defense that is sometimes confused with this one since both often are referred to as the “Rumsfeld Commission.”]
DOD Space Launch Modernization Plan (the “Moorman” report, chaired by Lt. Gen. Thomas Moorman), Executive Summary. April 1994.
Report of the Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program (the “Augustine Committee” report). December 1990. Chaired by Mr. Norman Augustine. [Not to be confused with the 2009 Augustine Committee.]
Leadership and America’s Future in Space: a Report to the Administrator by Dr. Sally K. Ride (The “Sally Ride report”.) August 1987.
Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (the “Rogers Commission report”). June 6, 1986. Chaired by William P. Rogers.
Pioneering the Space Frontier: An Exciting Vision of Our Next Fifty Years in Space. Report of the U.S. National Commission on Space (the “Paine report” ). May 1986. Chaired by Dr. Thomas O. Paine.
The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future. (The “Space Task Group report“). September 1969. Chaired by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.

Set 2: Books, Articles, Reports and Monographs (Non-Governmental)

2021-Present

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Salmon Swimming Upstream: Charting a Course in Cislunar Space. October 2024.
Secure World Foundation. 2024 Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment. April 2024.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Space Threat Assessment 2024. April 2024.
U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and Secure World Foundation. A Lexicon for Outer Space Security. August 2023.
RAND. International Space Traffic Management: Charting a Course for Long Term Sustainability. June 2023.
Secure World Foundation. 2023 Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment. April 2023.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Space Threat Assessment 2023. April 2023.
RAND/FAA. Assessing the Readiness for Human Commercial Spaceflight Safety Regulations: Charting a Trajectory from Revolutionary to Routine Travel. April 2023. [written by RAND for the FAA in response to direction in the 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, CSLCA]
Secure World Foundation. 2022 Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment. April 2022.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Space Threat Assessment 2022. April 2022.
Laura Forczyk. Becoming Off-Worldly: Learning from Astronauts to Prepare for Your Spaceflight Journey. February 2022.
Center for Strategic and International Studies. Fly Me to the Moon: Worldwide Cislunar and Lunar Missions, by Kaitlyn Johnson. February 2022.
Nicholas Schmidle. Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut. May 2021.
Atlantic Council. The Future of Security in Space: A Thirty-Year U.S. Strategy. April 12, 2021.
Secure World Foundation. 2021 Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment. April 2021.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Space Threat Assessment 2021. March 31, 2021.
Eric Berger. Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX. March 2021.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Defense Against the Dark Arts in Space. February 2021.

2016-2020

Secure World Foundation. Space Policy & Sustainability: Issue Briefing for the Biden Administration. December 2020.
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). ALPA White Paper: Safe Integration of Commercial Space Operations Into the U.S. National Airspace System and Beyond. October 2019.
Alan Ladwig. See You in Orbit? Our Dream of Spaceflight. 2019.
Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). Evaluation of China’s Commercial Space Sector. September 2019.
Douglas Brinkley. American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race. HarperCollins. 2019.
Leonard David. Moon Rush: The New Space Race. National Geographic. May 2019.
Center for Strategic and International Studies. Space Threat Assessment 2019. April 2019.
Secure World Foundation. Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment. April 2019.
John Logsdon. Ronald Reagan and the Space Frontier. Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology (Springer Nature, Switzerland AG). 2019
Center for Strategic and International Studies. Space Threat Assessment 2018. April 2018.
Secure World Foundation. Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment. April 2018
Christian Davenport. The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos. PublicAffairs. 2018
Tim Fernholz. Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, And the New Space Race. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2018.
Alan Stern and David Grinspoon. Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto. MacMillan. 2018
Scott Kelly. Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery. Knopf. 2017
Tom Powell. Dave Lubar and Karen Jones. Bracing for Impact: Terrestrial Radio Interference to Satellite-Based Services. Aerospace Corporation, Center for Space and Policy Strategy. January 2018.
James A. Vedda and Peter L. Hays. Major Policy Issues in Evolving Global Space Operations. Aerospace Corporation, Center for Space Policy and Strategy & AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. December 2017.
Todd Harrison et al. Escalation and Deterrence in the Second Space Age. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). October 2017.
Aerospace Industries Association. Funding Our Future: AIA Recommendations for Increasing NASA’s Budget. March 2017.
Joan Johnson-Freese. Space Warfare in the 21st Century. Routledge. 2016.
Leonard David. Mars — Our Future on the Red Planet. National Geographic. 2016.

2008-2015

John Logsdon. After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program. Palgrave Macmillan. 2015.
Jim Bell. The Interstellar Age: Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission. Dutton. 2015.
W. Henry Lambright. Why Mars: NASA and the Politics of Space Exploration. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2014.
James Clay Molz. Crowded Orbits: Conflict and Cooperation in Space. Columbia University Press. 2014
Graham Gibbs. An Analysis of the Space Policies of the Major Space Faring Nations and Selected Emerging Space Faring Nations. Annals of Air and Space Law, vol. XXXVII, pp. 279-332.
Matthew Kleiman. The Little Book of Space Law. American Bar Association, 2013.
Buzz Aldrin (with Leonard David). Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration. National Geographic, 2013.
Dominc Phelan, ed. Cold War Space Sleuths: The Untold Secrets of the Soviet Space Program. Springer Praxis, 2013.
Roger Launius, ed. Exploring the Solar System: The History and Science of Planetary Exploration. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
James Vedda. Becoming Spacefarers. Xlibris. June 2012.
James Clay Moltz, Asia’s Space Race: National Motivations, Regional Rivalries and International Risks. Columbia University Press, 2011.
Mark Albrecht. Falling Back to Earth: A First Hand Account of the Great Space Race and the End of the Cold War. New Media Books, 2011.
John Logsdon. John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Joan Johnson-Freese. An Allard Commission Postmortem and the Need for a National Space Council. Joint Forces Quarterly, issue 60, 1st quarter 2011 (January 2011), pp. 54-60.
Aerospace Corporation “Lessons Learned” from NPOESS Briefing Slides, December 1, 2010 (posted on NOAA’s website February 7, 2011)
Eric Sterner. Beyond the Stalemate in the Space Commons. In: Contested Commons: The Future of American Power in a Multipolar World. Chapter IV. Center for a New American Security (Abraham M. Denmark and Dr. James Mulvenon, eds,) January 2010. pp. 107-133.
James A. Vedda. Choice, Not Fate: Shaping a Sustainable Future in the Space Age. Xlibris, 2009.
Health of the U.S. Space Industrial Base and the Impact of Export Controls (the “Young-Ballhaus report on ITAR”). An expert panel co-chaired by Mr. A. Thomas Young and Dr. William Ballhaus, Jr. assessed the impact of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) on the nation’s space program. The panel met under the auspices of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Future of Human Spaceflight. White Paper by MIT’s Space, Policy and Society Working Group. December 2008.

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