Kendall announces reforms for air and space forces • Military wants easier access to satellite imagery

National security insights for space professionals.

View this email in your browser National security insights for space professionals. Delivered Tuesdays. In this week's edition: • Air Force, Space Force to reorganize for great power competition • Space Force gets kudos for embracing commercial innovation • Tory Bruno reflects on Vulcan's successful debut If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up for free here Today's highlights: Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Monday evening unveiled a long-term vision to revamp personnel, operations and technology efforts with the goal of reshaping the Air Force and newly formed Space Force to concentrate resources squarely on strategic competition with China. Speaking at AFA's Warfare Symposium in Colorado, Kendall said priorities have to change for the era of great power competition.  Highlights from the announcement: The Air Force and Space Force will streamline operations and prioritize areas like technology integration, cyber expertise, and software development, all to ensure the Air Force and Space Force are prepared for the complex challenges of the 21st century. China's growing arsenal of long-range missiles and anti-satellite weapons, in particular, threatens American supremacy in areas like air combat and space-enabled intelligence, Kendall pointed out. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said the service will introduce training and education programs tailored for an area when space is a contested, not a benign, environment. In tech procurement programs, there will be greater focus on resiliency against threats, he said. "The systems that we've built were designed for a benign environment. We have to redesign our architectures, redesign the systems so they are resilient against an adversary." Saltzman said the Space Force will establish a Space Futures Command as a new field command to develop concepts, conduct experimentation and wargames. The U.S. Space Force, meanwhile, is drawing praise for actively embracing commercial solutions.  One priority is getting field commanders direct access to real-time satellite imagery rather than wait for intelligence feeds. In an ideal world, the Space Force would "whip out a credit card and buy a commercial image to use in a tactical environment," said Steven "Bucky" Butow, of the Defense Innovation Unit. Facilitating DoD's access to commercial technologies was a topic of discussion at last week's SmallSat Symposium in Silicon Valley. What we learned:  On the commercial side, easy money from a 2021 investment frenzy has vanished. This forces slimmed down budgets and a laser focus on viable products and government contracts.  The Space Force wants to leverage commercial tech. However, pivoting from traditional government acquisition processes isn't without its hurdles. Regulatory constraints, differing priorities, and funding uncertainties still create roadblocks for smooth integration. Startups considering the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program should beware. These government grants offer crucial early funding but can also consume significant resources with strict project timelines.  Don't miss: Automating for SmallSat Success February 20 1 PM ET This webinar will explore how today's small-satellite industry leaders are employing automation in operations and manufacturing. REGISTER HERE In other news 🚀 United Launch Alliance's CEO Tory Bruno said the successful inaugural launch of the company's Vulcan rocket is a vindication of ULA's technology and business strategy. Getting to Vulcan's first flight took much longer than expected, but it was  "a perfect mission," Bruno said. He noted that, historically, first launches of new vehicles experience high failure rates. "I've done about three dozen first launches, and generally one of two things happen: either it blows up or it has significant anomalies in flight," he said. "I have never seen as clean a first launch" as Vulcan. L3Harris Technologies said it successfully demonstrated a compact satellite antenna known as Digital Beamforming Phased Array Antenna System (DPAAS). In a demonstration in Fairbanks, Alaska, the DPAAS prototype handled an average of more than 300 satellite contacts per day, including up to eight simultaneous contacts. The company said government and commercial customers are seeking innovative ground systems to communicate with large satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit and with constellations that include spacecraft in different orbital planes. BlackSky secured a $50 million agreement to provide satellite imagery services and Earth observation spacecraft to the Republic of Indonesia. The company will work with Thales Alenia Space to establish the building blocks of a sovereign Earth imaging satellite network tailored to Indonesia's national security needs. CEO Brian O'Toole characterized the partnership with Indonesia as a model for how governments can harness commercial innovation rather than spend billions of dollars and decades developing indigenous platforms. Thanks for reading ! Please send comments, suggestions and tips to serwin@spacenews.com Copyright (C) 2024 Multiverse Media Inc.. All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Filmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe