National Security Space Association



The National Security Space Association (NSSA) is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Arlington, Virginia in the United States of America. It describes its mission as guiding communication, strategy, and education of "national security space advancement" and related topics, such as educating and lobbying the United States Congress on matters related to national security and space domain awareness. The NSSA was formed in August 2019. The NSSA specifies on their website that their focus is on military and intelligence support related to Title 10 and Title 50 areas of United States law.

The NSSA works with the military–industrial complex and Department of Defense of the United States and its allies. Through 2024, the NSSA has relationships with the United States Space Force and Space Systems Command, the United States Air Force, NASA, and military contractors including Lockheed Martin and the Aerospace Corporation.

United States government interactions and events
The NSSA, though legally a civilian non-profit, hosts and organizes in association with the United States Military events to discuss top secret sensitive compartmented information with groups such as the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NSIC) based out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, at locations such as secure Lockheed Martin facilities in Herndon, Virginia.

In 2020, the NSSA called on the United States government to reform "space security policy, practices and governance structures." The NSSA specifically cited that present rules around classification prevented military and intelligence agencies from reliably sharing information about threats to Earth from space or to defend satellites. The NSSA said of current rules, that they "...are creating unnecessary challenges to the efficient and effective conduct of the national security space program." The NSSA added, "As a result, the U.S. government is denying itself access to new ideas, technology, capabilities and applications."

In 2023, the NSSA with the United States Space Force and Space Systems Command organized a conference on reverse engineering for militaries and industries of the Five Eyes (FVEY) nations, consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and also France, Germany, and Japan at the event, which was held at the Aerospace Corporation in Chantilly, Virginia.

On November 9, 2023, the NSSA briefed the National Space Council of the Executive Office of the President of the United States on space traffic management, civil space protections, and remote sensing.

On March 12, 2024, the NSSA held a declassified hearing with Sean M. Kirkpatrick, former Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to discuss the 2024 AARO report on unidentified anomalous phenomenon and unidentified flying objects.

Board of Advisors
As of March, 2024 the NSSAs Board of Advisors included:


 * Charles E. Allen, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, United States Department of Homeland Security
 * Marc J. Berkowitz, Lockheed Martin, former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
 * Kari Bingen, Center for Strategic and International Studies, former United States Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (I&S)
 * Dennis C. Blair, United States Navy (Ret), former Director of National Intelligence
 * Jim Bridenstine, former Administrator of NASA, former U.S. Representative (R-OK)
 * Robert Cardillo, former Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
 * Brigadier General Timothy R. Coffin, USA (Ret), Mitre, former commander, White Sands Missile Range
 * Thomas Conroy, former deputy director of National Support, National Reconnaissance Office
 * Jim Cooper, former U.S. Representative from Tennessee
 * General Ronald Fogleman, USAF (Ret), former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * Susan M. Gordon, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI), Former deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
 * Jeff Gossel, former director National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and former chairman, Defense Intelligence Space Threats and Operations Committee for the Defense Intelligence Agency
 * Major General Donald G. Hard, United States Air Force (Ret), former director of Space and Strategic Defense Initiative Programs, Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition
 * Jeffrey K. Harris, former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space and director, National Reconnaissance Office


 * Todd Harrison, Metrea Strategic Insights
 * Richard Haver, Northrop Grumman, former assistant director of Defense for Intelligence
 * Stephen Kitay, Azure Space, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
 * Colonel Douglas L. Loverro, United States Air Force (Ret), former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
 * Lieutenant General J. Kevin McLaughlin, United States Air Force (Ret), former Deputy Commander, United States Cyber Command
 * Kevin Meiners, Huddle Up Associates, former deputy director of National Intelligence Enterprise Capacity
 * Dawn Meyerriecks, former deputy director for Science and Technology, Central Intelligence Agency
 * Major General Richard O'Lear, United States Air Force (Ret), Former Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, United States Air Force
 * Dr. Scott Pace, Director of the George Washington University Space Policy Institute, and Former Executive Secretary of the National Space Council
 * John Paul Parker, Founder, Escape Velocity and Former Intelligence Community Space Executive at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
 * General Ellen M. Pawlikowski, United States Air Force (Ret), Former Commander, Air Force Materiel Command
 * John Serafini, chief executive officer and board member, Hawkeye 360
 * Mandy Vaughn, chair, NSSA Education and Workforce Development Center
 * Christopher A. Williams, chair, Moorman Center for Space Studies

Board of Directors
As of March, 2024 the NSSAs board of directors included:


 * Joseph K. Dodd, Linquest
 * Brandon Anderson, Zoic Labs
 * Frank Backes, Capella Space
 * Major General Clint Crosier, USAF (Ret.), AWS Global Space Business
 * Maria Demaree, Lockheed Martin
 * Michael P. Dempsey, Northrop Grumman
 * Alex Gross, Parsons Corporation
 * Jerry Howe, Leidos
 * Steve Jacques, Velos
 * Stephen Kitay, Azure Space, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
 * David A. Logan, BAE Systems


 * Brian Loggins, Reinventing Geospatial, Inc.
 * Chris Long, General Dynamics
 * General Lester L. Lyles, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff
 * Eliahu H. Niewood, Sc.D., MITRE’s National Security Sector, United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board
 * Dr. Michelle Parker, Boeing Defense, Space & Security
 * Gregory Pejic, Leidos, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
 * Dan Piemont, ABL Space Systems
 * Lee Rizzo, SAIC
 * Kent Wilcher, KBR