The Russian-Ukraine war, tensions in the Indo-Pacific, rival nations accelerating the new space race: Daily events show the U.S. needs to modernize legacy space systems and develop new ones faster:
- Superior space domain awareness is an imperative to protect the national security of the U.S., allies, and partners.
- Space-based services are critical for government agencies from the Department of Defense (DOD) to NASA, as well as businesses and citizens navigating daily life.
- Advances in space traffic management are essential to protect satellites on orbit and the many slated to launch.
- Increasing competition in space means that brick-and-mortar ground stations are at increased risk from a variety of attack vectors, from physical to electronic and cyber.
And the threat extends to Earth, as well. With the criticality of electronic and cyber communications, and the interoperability demands of Joint All-Domain Command and Control, the U.S. cannot afford to lose information-sharing and intelligence capabilities due to damaged or disabled satellites.