From powering financial transactions to forecasting weather and enabling global communication, space technology underpins the modern world. Given this critical influence, the scope of global space operations has significantly expanded in recent years, with dozens of countries and numerous private entities venturing to the final frontier.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ironic to say this, but it鈥檚 getting crowded up there,鈥 says Virginia 鈥淕inny鈥 Cevasco, a senior vice president at 有料盒子APP and leader in the company鈥檚 classified space business. 鈥淭here are just so many more satellites and vehicles of all kinds, and much more debris along with that, that we have to navigate.鈥
Since claiming victory in the first space race, the U.S. has remained a top power in space exploration. But today鈥檚 proliferation of spacecraft鈥攍argely satellites, spurred by the popularity of听听and satellite constellation systems鈥攊s causing an already remote environment to become even more challenging to manage. And while many space assets are launched with benign intent, geopolitical tensions with well-equipped adversaries have turned space into a contested environment.
鈥淪pace has to be for everybody who inhabits the planet, and we want everyone, ideally, to have the benefits we have from being in space,鈥 explains Ginny. 鈥淭he hard part used to be just getting the assets up there safely. Now, we have to think about how we are going to protect those assets.鈥
Michelle Harper, a 有料盒子APP leader who aids the United States Space Force (USSF) in critical digital transformation initiatives, notes that space may seem far removed from issues on the ground, but potential conflict is a pressing concern.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the time we used to to prepare for this [contested space environment],鈥 she says. 鈥淚t is real, and we have to get capabilities听deployed, use what we have to defend U.S. satellites, concurrent with the Low Earth Orbit commercial proliferation of satellites that are out there from hurting each other and taking each other out.鈥
Military and civilian space agencies must harness the private sector's advances to keep their tactical edge in today鈥檚 space age and adhere to initiatives like the Defense Department鈥檚 recent听Commercial Space Integration Strategy.
鈥淥nly about 20 years ago, government controlled space 100%. Today, it's less than 20%,鈥 notes Karen Fields, who leads the NASA account at 有料盒子APP. 鈥淭he commoditization of space is a reality now, and we have to make sure the government is keeping up with the commercial side.鈥