Public-Private Partnerships in Space Exploration: A Case Study of NASA

This study critically evaluates NASA’s Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) with commercial space firms, applying a principal-agent framework to assess their national security implications and briefly contrasting these with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) partnership model. Drawing on case analyses, the paper identifies core vulnerabilities like cyber dependencies; regulatory gaps; and supplier concentration risk with a discussion on NASA’s risk mitigation framework. Despite documented gains in technological innovation and cost reduction, the study finds that PPPs can undermine strategic oversight and introduce systemic risk to mission‑critical infrastructure. The analysis demonstrates how information asymmetries and agency drift could compromise US national security objectives. By refining oversight mechanisms, regulatory coordination, and drawing on lessons from other models, the US space programme may be able to sustain innovation while safeguarding national security.