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.
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 (NASIC) 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 the same year, the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation endorsed the NSSAs governmental policy whitepaper, "Establish Governance and Align Security Policies and Programs to Enable U.S. National Security Space Missions."
At the 2021 Government & Defense Conference held annually by investment firm Baird, KBR's Byron Bright, along with Joe Dodd of LinQuest, Kay Sears of Lockheed Martin, HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini and Loverro Consulting’s Douglas Loverro provided updates on the state of the space industry at a panel discussion about the National Security Space Association. Partnered with the United States Space Force and Space Systems Command, the NSSA held it's inaugural International Security Space Forum on October 24 with the Aerospace Corporation.
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, consis|ting 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. The Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, a public benefit scientific and educational charity focused on Global Positioning System (GPS) related issues, highlighted and called attention to NSSA research in 2024 about rapidly evolving geopolitical threats from American adversaries targeting critical GPS infrastructure, in the form of "navigation warfare asymmetry." In July 2024, Colonel Robert Davis of the United States Space Systems Command (SSC) and Space Development Agency (SDA), and head of the SSC's Space Sensing Directorate, discussed with the NSSA issues related to radiation hardening of satellite constellations used for missile warning systems. In 2024, attention was drawn to an advisory letter from the NSSA citing deficiencies in the US Space Force budget proposed by the administration of United States President Joe Biden, and concerns the USA may cede leadership in space-related affairs to China due to a reduction in Space Forces budget.
As of March, 2024 the NSSAs Board of Advisors included:
As of March, 2024 the NSSAs board of directors included: