Wargaming Space Rapid Transit as a Dual-Use Horizontal Two Stage to Orbit Launch Vehicle

The paper presents a tabletop wargame, AstroTactics, that was developed to simulate potential applications of nascent space technologies in military conflict. While there are existing commercial, civilian, and military wargames that focus on simulating various scenarios in space, AstroTactics was developed primarily for playing out emerging space technologies, many of which have not yet been deployed or are in the early stages of research & development. We use AstroTactics to explore a specific case: The Space Rapid Transit (SRT), a two stage to orbit horizontal takeoff launch vehicle being developed by Princeton Satellite Systems. This paper reviews these outcomes and ana- lyzes the findings for both potential applications and possible gaps or challenges. AstroTactics highlights dynamics that are already well-mapped in terms of space security, such as the importance of redundant, resilient, and rapidly replenishable satellite infrastructure, while also pointing to less discussed challenges, like the need for redundant launch capacity. Suggestions for future work and other technologies to incorporate into the game are provided in the conclusion.