U.S. National Space Policy: Review of Space Security Based on Punctuated Equilibriu

The problem addressed is the understanding of the impact of changes to U.S. National Space Policy on organizations with a focus on space operations. There is an impact to government and private organizations because of the changes to U.S. National Space Policy over the past 10 years. The purpose of this study was to examine the organizational perception of the barriers imposed through the abrupt changes and implementation of U.S. National Space Policy to organizations for compliance with homeland security practices. Technology increases the focus on the theoretical perspective that countries will react to incidents in the development of policy without regard to policy implementation at the organizational level. This qualitative study used punctuated equilibrium theory as a lens to evaluate the trickledown effect of abrupt changes to the U.S. National Space Policy based on the privatization within the space industry as well as vulnerabilities for homeland security. A qualitative, multiple case study design was selected to engage in an in-depth and detailed investigation of the perceived barriers imposed by changes in U.S. National Space Policy for the privatization of space exploration on the organizations and the need for the inclusion of space security to the mission of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The six interviewees answered seven interview questions to included subject matter experts with experience in security, operations, and space exploration. Each of the six interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results of the research implied that there are impacts to organizational policies to include cultural adjustments to the organizations. The barriers imposed by changes to U.S. National Space Policy are the use of physical space, transparency among organizations, and cultural adjustments to processes; there is not a need to include changes to U.S. National Space Policy into the mission of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Recommendations for future research should focus on the condition that lead to policy change, the implementation of the changes, and the conditions that precede the changes on organizations.