From robotic arms designed to remove space debris to technologies that could just as easily disable a satellite, the same new space capabilities can serve both peaceful and military purposes. Yet there’s no universally agreed-upon definition of what qualifies as dual-use—making governance, transparency, and international cooperation far more complicated. Researchers at the RAND Corporation are now taking a look at this idea, to explore why that definition gap matters, how different regions of the world view the issue, and what it could mean for the future of space security and sustainability. I recently got the chance to speak with two of those researchers. Bruce McClintock is lead of the RAND Space Enterprise Initiative, and Krista Langeland is a senior physical scientist at the RAND Corporation.

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India is opening the door wider to foreign investment in areas like satellite manufacturing, launch vehicles, and space infrastructure. At the same time, it still has local content rules and regulatory requirements that U.S. companies need to navigate.

To talk through what that means for American businesses—and how the U.S. and India are shaping their commercial space relationship in 2026 and beyond—I recently spoke with Liz Pullin, special counsel at Jenner & Block.

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I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Brandon Thorne, the new Senior Vice President for Energy Programs at the Universities Space Research Association. With more than 20 years of leadership across nuclear science, national labs, and national security, he steps into this role as USRA sharpens its focus on advanced nuclear innovation, AI-enabled energy systems, and emerging quantum technologies. We discussed what this new era of energy transformation means for the nation and what’s next for USRA.

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