PUBLICATIONS

Through its publications, INSS provides rigorous, forward‑looking research and analysis on critical national security issues that support the joint warfighter and inform Department of War decision‑makers.

 

Publications

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Tag: space

Headshots of Mr. Todd Pennington (left), Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, and Professor Laura Donohue (right), Director of the Center on National Security at Georgetown Law Center underneath the words "NatSec EmTech: Jurisprudence in ZeroG: SpaceLaw101"

May 6, 2026

INSS Joins NatSec EmTech Podcast to Discuss Outer Space Law

Mr. Todd Pennington, Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, recently appeared on the National Security Emerging Technology Podcast (NatSec EmTech) with host Professor Laura Donohue, Director of the Center on National Security at Georgetown Law Center.

Cover of “Targets, Treaties, and Trade Secrets: Understanding Space Hybrid Architecture’s Legal Challenges,” showing satellites orbiting Earth; by Kim Sloan and Todd Pennington, April 2026.

April 16, 2026

Targets, Treaties, and Trade Secrets: Understanding Space Hybrid Architecture’s Legal Challenges

Space is a domain accessible to all states for civil, commercial, military, and intelligence activities.

An image of Earth from the point of view in space with a satellite in the frame. Assured PNT Summit written in the top left.

April 9, 2026

INSS Participates in 6th Annual Assured PNT Summit

Mr. Todd Pennington was a panelist at the 6th Annual Assured Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Summit.

A graphic for the episode, "Strategy in Cislunar Space and Beyond" for The Space Advisory Podcast, featuring Mr. Todd Pennington. Todd Pennington is featured prominently on the right-hand side in front of a blue background with details about the podcast on the left-hand side.

March 31, 2026

Strategy in Cislunar Space and Beyond

Mr. Todd Pennington was the featured guest on this month's episode of the Space Advisory Podcast, discussing his recent paper on strategy in space frontier areas (xGEO and cislunar space, and beyond).

Cover of Strategic Assessment 2025

Feb. 25, 2026

Strategic Assessment 2025: Evolving Great Power Competition at Mid-Decade

This mid-decade review of contemporary Great Power competition is most welcome because it presents U.S. political leadership and the national security community with an opportunity to reflect on the inherent challenges in this latest round of geopolitical rivalry. Although the turn toward contestation among the United States, China, and Russia (as well as others) was formally acknowledged by Washington first in its 2017 National Security Strategy, Great Power competition had never disappeared from the international system even during the halcyon days after the Cold War’s ending.

Cover of Strategic Perspectives 45, Stable (green) and unstable (purple) manifold arcs associated with an Earth-Moon L1 halo orbit in the circular-restricted three-body problem (CR3BP), illustrating low-energy dynamical pathways used for cislunar transfer design.

Feb. 12, 2026

Understanding Space Frontier Areas

Distant reaches of space loom as a strategic horizon. The vast majority of space operations have, so far, been limited to a few families of near-Earth orbits. However, space beyond geostationary Earth orbit, or xGEO, is likely to become important for strategic purposes in the near future. This is especially true of cislunar space, that region of space in which the gravity of Earth’s moon is significant. This paper refers to xGEO and cislunar space as Space Frontier Areas, since missions there have not yet reached sufficient scale to cluster into patterns of use.

A high altitude balloon is launched from Andoya Air Station in 2021.

Nov. 17, 2025

China’s "near space" legal warfare

A recurring Chinese narrative about so-called "near space" is an expression of the People's Liberation Army doctrine of Legal Warfare.

Todd Pennington, INSS Senior Research Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy (second to left), joined a panel on Legal Issues Arising from Nuclear Weapons in Outer Space at the U.S. Space Command's 5th Annual Legal Conference.

March 10, 2025

INSS Joins Panel at USSPACECOM's Fifth Annual Legal Conference

Todd Pennington, INSS Senior Research Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy, was featured on a panel at the U.S. Space Command's Fifth Annual Legal Conference.

Mr. Todd Pennington (center), INSS Senior Research Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy, discussed "dual-use" space technology as a panelist at a recent event hosted by the Colorado Space Business Roundtable. The panel, moderated by Skip Smith (Chair of the Space and Satellite Industry Group at Greenberg Traurig) also included Dennis Burnett (General Counsel for Hawkeye 360), Professor Jack Beard (Director of the Space, Cyber, and National Security Law Program at Nebraska College of Law), and Matt Linton (General Counsel for True Anomaly).

March 10, 2025

INSS Participates in Panel to Discuss Dual-Use Space Technology

Mr. Todd Pennington, INSS Senior Research Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy, discussed dual-use space technology as a panelist at a recent event hosted by the Colorado Space Business Roundtable.