On July 21, Forward Defense Deputy Director Mark Massa and Peter L. Hays, professor of space policy at George Washington University, were quoted in a Forbes article on nuclear threats to space assets. Hays was quoted on the threat of a Russian detonation in space, stating “I believe the Russian nuclear ASAT is primarily intended to hold proliferated LEO [low Earth orbit] satellites like Starlink at risk.” Hays’s recently published issue brief, “Modernizing space-based nuclear command, control, and communications,” was extensively cited in this article.
Massa was quoted on the destructive risk of a nuclear detonation in space and the potential international response, stating that “such an action would demand a forceful response from the United States and the international community leveraging all tools of national power.”
Forward Defense leads the Atlantic Council’s US and global defense programming, developing actionable recommendations for the United States and its allies and partners to compete, innovate, and navigate the rapidly evolving character of warfare. Through its work on US defense policy and force design, the military applications of advanced technology, space security, strategic deterrence, and defense industrial revitalization, it informs the strategies, policies, and capabilities that the United States will need to deter, and, if necessary, prevail in major-power conflict.
