The space environment is undergoing a revolution as challenges and opportunities multiply. Leaders in defense and intelligence, space exploration, and climate research must accelerate ways to address today’s greatest threats:
- Space is congested, as satellite constellations grow exponentially and increase the hazards of flight safety. Current capabilities cannot manage the increasingly congested, contested, and competitive space domain.
- Adversaries are weaponizing space, endangering systems critical to the nation’s defense. Ground systems are especially at risk, as they are traditionally brick-and-mortar facilities vulnerable to cyberattack.
- Climate change is escalating, making Earth observation essential for scientific progress. Today’s space systems are inefficient and ineffective at integrating and using increasing quantities of stovepiped data.