Space, Security, and Trust: Federal Contracting in the Commercial Space Industry

Abstract

The space industry is intrinsically tied to national security, nonetheless the U.S. government has entrusted commercial entities with the provision of critical space-based data systems and land sensing technologies. By examining the language that the government uses within the legal documents surrounding bid deliberation and award selection, this paper provides an historical analysis of the relationship between the U.S. government and the commercial space industry in an attempt to understand the degree of control and discretion that commercial entities possess over matters of national security. The analysis shows that a competitive commercial industry once prevented any one entity from manipulating the price or quality of deliverables, but a series of mergers and acquisitions allowed a few large entities to dominate the industry. Recently, enterprises have spawned as potential industry disruptors; however, the U.S. government lacks suitable oversight capacity to effectively manage a diverse array of values and interests.