The United States Space Force’s new commercial strategy, released this spring, has gotten industry leaders buzzing about the potential for new collaboration approaches between industry and government.
On the heels of the 2.4 billion dollars in unfunded requirements submitted by Space Force to Congress in March, leaders in the space industry are keenly aware that a new era of space threats requires a new technical approach – and are looking to partner as effectively as possible to create one.
“Outpacing the threat requires agility and adaptability – a condensing of the timeline from requirement to operational capability,” said Intelsat Government Solutions President Dave Broadbent. “We believe that the role of a prime contractor such as ourselves in this ecosystem is to help frame new requirements, accelerate new technologies, and understand the best solutions available from commercial industry – taking the role of a true partner to the government as Space Force seeks to shift its commercial strategy.”
Space Force’s strategy has four guiding principles: balance, interoperability, resilience and responsible conduct. Maturing and emerging commercial space solutions offer opportunities for Space Force to explore new ways to meet its requirements, pursuant to the four lines of effort outlined in the strategy: Collaborative transparency, operational and technical integration, risk management, and securing the future.
“How do we make ourselves a little uncomfortable and go into areas where we haven’t explored, or we haven’t partnered with commercial as much?” Lt. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton, the Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs and requirements, said in describing the genesis of the strategy during a discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan public policy organization in Washington, in April.
Commercial leaders across the spectrum have seized the opportunity for new, more collaborative approaches to government innovation. Broadbent mentioned a partnership with Aalyria, a startup offering a software platform and atmospheric laser communications technology, as emblematic of new forms of collaboration. The two companies have formed a strategic partnership, enabling both investment that allows Aalyria to scale and an integrated approach to pursuit of government solutions.
“The new space economy is forming at breakneck pace and innovative partnerships will deliver the best value to both commercial and government customers,” said Aalyria CEO Chris Taylor. “Aalyria and Intelsat want to help shape that future.”
Already, government customers in space have realized new, more cost-effective solutions from bundling commercial off-the-shelf technology into their mission requirements. One example is from Seagate, a commercial provider of mass data storage solutions that has been able to offer a space-hardened data port to the International Space Station at approximately ten percent of the cost of the government-developed alternative.
“We had the technology and were able to quickly adapt it to meet the ISS’ mission requirements,” said Bill Downer, VP of National Programs at Seagate. “We’ve found that, when the government customer has a need, commercial industry often has a ready solution. With communication and partnership, we’re able to save significant time and money.”
This industry-led innovation comes against the backdrop of new and novel threats in the space domain. In April, Gen. Stephen Whiting warned Congressional committees of the need to defend U.S. satellites from threats posed by anti-satellite weapons developed by China and Russia – with the potential to disrupt global GPS capabilities vital to the U.S. military.
“The question is what will move faster – the threat, or our technical advancements,” said Broadbent. “With these new approaches, we’re doing everything we can to help the government ensure that it’s the latter.”
