Dispatches from the SpaceNews opinions desk
By Dan Robitzski
Welcome to our weekly newsletter highlighting the opinions and perspectives of the SpaceNews community.
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If war breaks out in space, can the United States count on the commercial companies that build, launch and operate its space infrastructure to put their prized assets on the line? This is the big question posed by Texas Tech University economics professor Alexander William Salter, who wrote in a recent opinion article that "we must acknowledge a difficult truth: the United States lacks a coherent, economically informed strategy for allocating responsibilities between the private and public sectors in space."
Salter argued that the way the United States does business in space may not cut it when military success is on the line, offering alternative ways of funding and procuring space assets in the future.
"The next few years' policy choices will set our trajectory for decades," Salter wrote. "America's space dominance isn't guaranteed. But by applying rigorous economic thinking to the division of tasks between public and private sectors, we can build a space ecosystem that preserves our competitive edge and keeps the final frontier both profitable and peaceful."
You can read the full article here. |
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How to ensure that Golden Dome is big enough, fast enough and resilient enough to protect the U.S.?
Arcfield CEO and Chairman Kevin Kelly says the answer is to integrate AI throughout the development and operations processes. It also requires engineering that is based on models, simulations and digital twins. In his article, Kelly argued that traditional procurement methods are too slow and frictional for the scale and speed at which the Golden Dome needs to be designed and built — and eventually used to intercept missiles.
"The days of linear kill webs — detect, decide, respond — are gone. Instead, we are faced with a complex web of sensors, systems and weapons that work together across domains in a coordinated attack. Each handoff, from sensor to operator to weapon, adds latency. And in a new era of hypersonic, coordinated, multifaceted salvos, those delays can be fatal."
Read the full article here. | | |
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 | An illustration of the Golden Dome. Credit: Arcfield
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When cybersecurity is compromised in space, operators may be quick to emphasize that the incident had "no impact to customers." But Knowmadics CEO and co-founder Paul Maguire argued that this focus on the immediacy of a breach downplays the risks — and outstanding vulnerabilities — of spacecraft in orbit.
"In reality, the most serious damage may occur invisibly, long before any service disruption," Maguire wrote. "In this phase, intrusions can allow hostile actors to establish persistent access, map vulnerabilities, and quietly position themselves for future exploitation. Adversaries can exploit critical windows — such as during satellite deployment, when telemetry, software loadouts and encryption keys are most exposed."
To shore up spacecraft defenses, Maguire called for the industry to put cybersecurity at the forefront of all their missions. As he suggested,
"A more effective approach is to align procurement frameworks with measurable security outcomes, rewarding vendors for building in resilience, validating defenses, and demonstrating lifecycle cyber performance. Treating cybersecurity as a mission-essential operational requirement, rather than a discretionary add-on, is essential for protecting national space assets."
You can see the full article here.
SpaceNews is committed to publishing our community's diverse perspectives. Whether you're an academic, executive, engineer or even just a concerned citizen of the cosmos, send your arguments and viewpoints to opinion@spacenews.com to be considered for publication online or in our next magazine. The perspectives shared in these opinion articles are solely those of the authors. |
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