At this year’s Sea, Air, and Space symposium, Navy Secretary John Phelan delivered a message resonating with the broader defense community. “We have to really change the way that we buy things. Change the way we make decisions. We have to be quicker,” he said. “Fixing this requires a whole-of-government and industry approach and public-private partnerships.”
Secretary Phelan’s call for reform and collaboration landed with weight and urgency. As global threats evolve and the speed of innovation accelerates, the Department of Defense (DoD) is increasingly turning to the commercial sector to close capability gaps and drive innovation at a faster pace. This theme was a central point of discussion at both the Sea, Air, and Space 2025 symposium held in National Harbor, Maryland, and the 40th Space Symposium, held in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
A Call Answered: Intelsat and the Space Force
A clear example of this shift came with the recent announcement that Intelsat will deliver maritime satellite connectivity under a new U.S. Space Force contract. Rather than simply backfilling military capacity, this partnership leverages commercial innovation to create a more agile and resilient global communications architecture. In maritime operations information superiority is mission-critical, whether it’s closing the kill chain or conducting search and rescue. Delivering the right data to the right decision-makers at the right time can determine mission success.
This public-private partnership represents a broader move toward integrating commercial capabilities directly into national defense strategies. David Broadbent, President of Intelsat Government Solutions, emphasized the company’s readiness: “Our partnerships with LEO operators, combined with our fleet of more than 55 GEO satellites, global teleports, security operations center and one of the largest terrestrial network in the world, positions Intelsat to provide strong but flexible communications during critical missions.”
From Sea-Air-Space 2025: A Sense of Urgency
Sea-Air-Space (SAS) 2025 brought together military leaders, industry executives, and technologists to confer on the most pressing issues facing the maritime and aerospace sectors. Some common threads that ran throughout the conversations included acquisition delays, rising costs, and entrenched bureaucracy. Despite these challenges, there was abundant optimism at SAS. Exhibits from commercial vendors showcased a surge of innovation from autonomous surface vehicles to next-generation communication systems, much of it ready to deploy today.
DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly reinforced the importance of these partnerships: “Our partners are essential for capability that we might require, or we may be able to offer. All of our capabilities emanate from industry. This partnership allows them to achieve greater capacity and responsiveness through advanced lead times in our end-to-end supply chains.” His remarks underscored a critical shift in defense thinking where industry is considered a strategic enabler of readiness and operational resilience
Insights from the 40th Space Symposium: Commercial Innovation Meets Military Need
At the 40th Space Symposium, conversations focused on the space domain becoming increasingly contested, congested, and critical. Military leaders focused on the need for dynamic space operations, including maneuverable satellites that can survive interference and attacks, capabilities already in development or deployment by commercial players.
The Space Force is leaning into this momentum, formalizing public-private collaboration through new contracts and acquisition strategies. This was further emphasized following President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) directing the Pentagon to prioritize commercial technologies in its acquisition strategy, a move that acknowledges the vital role the private sector plays in strengthening military capabilities.
A day after the signing of this EO, Col. Richard Kniseley, head of the Commercial Space Office (COMSO) within the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, elaborated on the importance of collaboration. “Long before Trump’s executive order came out last night, there’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” he told reporters at the Space Symposium. “We’ve done so much of a grassroots effort in COMSO…showing how amazing the commercial capabilities are.”
Col. Kniseley’s words reflect a critical turning point for defense strategy, where the commercial sector is more than a supplier of technology, but a core component of national security infrastructure.
Toward a New Operating Model
Taken together, the clear takeaway from Sea-Air-Space and the Space Symposium is achieving defense readiness and resilience in the 21st century requires a new operating model grounded in collaboration, speed, and adaptability. In an era of global complexity and technological acceleration, the U.S. military must continue to lean into the strengths of the commercial sector.
Legacy acquisition models, focused on long development timelines and bespoke solutions, are giving way to an era where commercial products and services are integrated directly into mission systems. The Intelsat contract represents a prototype for this new future, where trusted industry partners support dynamic operations across land, sea, air, and space.
