Secure World Foundation is accepting applications for the inaugural Space Boot Camp for Nuclear Policy Professionals, a weeklong training program that will be held January 25–29, 2027, in Washington, D.C.
The boot camp is designed for early-career professionals working in nuclear policy, nuclear risk reduction, or related PhD research who want to better understand how space activity affects strategic stability. The program will cover space systems, orbital mechanics, counterspace capabilities, civil and security space governance, satellite operations, and the changing commercial space landscape.
Space and nuclear issues have been connected since the beginning of the Space Age. Satellites support nuclear command-and-control systems, monitoring, and verification. Ballistic missiles, first developed to carry nuclear warheads, later became satellite launch vehicles. Today, actions and competition in space can carry strategic consequences, especially when major space powers also have nuclear arsenals.
The Space Boot Camp will bring together 20 selected participants for policy-focused lectures, interactive discussions, a D.C.-area offsite visit, and a half-day tabletop exercise. Subject matter experts active in space security, governance, and commercial space will lead the sessions.
Selected participants will have economy travel to Washington, D.C. and hotel costs covered for the week. They will also receive a small honorarium for other expenses.
This boot camp is for applicants who:
- Are 35 or under at the time of the boot camp
- Are based in the United States
- Currently work in nuclear policy or nuclear risk reduction, or are conducting PhD research on these issues
- Are interested in learning how space activity affects strategic stability
Applicants do not need to be U.S. citizens. All discussions will be unclassified.
Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Applicants selected for the virtual interview round will be notified by July 24, 2026.
The Space Boot Camp is part of SWF’s initiative, “Strengthening Strategic Stability at the Nexus of Space and Nuclear Security,” supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Read more and apply: www.swfound.org/events/space-boot-camp-for-nuclear-policy-professionals