Astronomy Prints 🌌: Military Space: Space Force joins Pentagon’s AI push

09/02/2025

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By Sandra Erwin

Welcome to this week's edition of SpaceNews' Military Space, your source for the latest developments at the intersection of space and national security. In this week's edition: Space Force joins Pentagon's AI push, investments in university partnerships and Golden Dome's spending plan sparks anticipation.

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The U.S. Space Force reached a major milestone Aug. 28 when the inaugural class of guardian officers graduated from the Officer Training Course at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. More than 80 officers completed the year-long program. OTC is the service's initial leader development course, which combines training in satellite, intelligence and cyber operations and provides exposure to acquisitions. Credit: Isaac Blancas/U.S. Space Force

AI strategy taking shape inside the Space Force

The Space Force is moving to make artificial intelligence central to its operations, part of a broader Pentagon shift toward AI-first modernization.

Chandra Donelson, the service's chief data and AI officer, told the National Defense Industrial Association's emerging technologies conference last week that her two top priorities are accelerating adoption of AI and data tools, and ensuring those capabilities reach guardians in the field. She said AI transformation is critical for a force that heavily relies on data.

The service in March released its "Data and Artificial Intelligence FY 2025 Strategic Action Plan," which will be updated annually. Donelson urged industry to contribute directly: "If you see things in here that you can help me get after, call me, come meet with me."

AI challenges: To accelerate adoption, the Space Force is organizing hackathon-style competitions where guardians develop solutions to operational and acquisition problems. Last year's generative AI challenge drew more than 350 participants, with the winning teams presenting at the Spacepower Conference in Orlando. Registration for this year's event opened in June and has more than 200 entrants, Donelson said. The competition is open across the military and government, but each team must be led by a guardian.

Aligning efforts: Each of the Space Force's three field commands — Space Training and Readiness Command, Space Operations Command and Space Systems Command — has established boards to coordinate data and AI projects. Donelson said the intent is to ensure guardians at the operational level see measurable benefits.

The Pentagon's push: Space Force efforts reflect a wider Defense Department strategy. Emil Michael, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said the military must operate as an "AI first" enterprise, embedding AI in every new program. In July, DoD's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office awarded contracts worth up to $200 million each to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI to adapt commercial AI for defense missions, from logistics to war gaming.

Modernization pressure: AI is already used to track orbital objects, detect interference with satellites and process intelligence data. But many of the service's ground systems still rely on decades-old technology. "A lot of our space systems … haven't been modernized," said Gillian Bussey, the service's deputy chief science officer. She said automation could free operators to focus on higher-priority tasks.

Data as a weapon: Information overload remains a critical challenge. "Our battle spaces are getting saturated with information," Bussey said. The task, she emphasized, is delivering data in a form guardians can act on. Michael put it bluntly: "We gather a lot of data, and that data is an asset. How do we use that asset, interpret it and use it to our advantage?"

Space Force doubles down on academia with more tech consortia in the works

The Space Force is quietly building a network of university-led research hubs aimed at solving some of its thorniest space technology challenges — and it's putting about $115 million behind the effort over five years.

Speaking last week at the National Defense Industrial Association's emerging technologies conference, Gillian Bussey, the Space Force's deputy chief science officer, said the program is designed to push academic research beyond the whiteboard and into operational use.

The partnerships, called Space Strategic Technology Institutes (SSTIs), are consortiums designed to "generate revolutionary technologies and help transition them," Bussey told attendees.

How the program works

The SSTI program launched in 2023 and is jointly funded with the Air Force Research Laboratory. Unlike traditional single-award research contracts, each SSTI requires a lead university to partner with at least two other academic institutions. Most also rope in private companies and nonprofit labs, creating research ecosystems that mirror the way the commercial space sector operates.

"These technology institutes are somewhat unique," Bussey said. "They're structured to encourage collaboration and accelerate the path from research to fielded capability."

So far, three SSTIs are active:

Space domain awareness: The first contract, awarded in August 2023 to the University of Colorado Boulder and Virginia Tech, is focused on monitoring activity in geostationary Earth orbit and beyond. Space is increasingly crowded with satellites and vulnerable to potential adversary interference.
In-space mobility and logistics: A second institute, launched in January 2024, is led by the University of Cincinnati and Texas A&M. Its work centers on technologies to maneuver, refuel and maintain spacecraft once they're in orbit.
Space power and propulsion: The most recent award, made in September 2024, went to the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan. The consortium is working on next-generation propulsion systems and power technologies.

Bussey confirmed that all three institutes are now operating. A fourth SSTI contract is set to be announced soon, with a fifth solicitation expected "in the near future."

The big picture

For the Space Force, challenges such as tracking spacecraft in geostationary orbit, developing refueling infrastructure and advancing propulsion systems are seen as critical to sustaining operations in contested orbits.

By seeding university-led collaborations with industry and nonprofits, the service hopes to capture both cutting-edge ideas and a steady pipeline of technical talent. The program's scale is modest compared to major acquisition programs, but officials say the intent is to spin promising technologies into larger defense projects.

Industry awaits Pentagon plan for Golden Dome

Defense and aerospace companies are circling the Trump administration's new missile defense initiative, Golden Dome for America, but are still waiting for details on how the nearly $25 billion in mandatory funding approved for fiscal year 2026 will be spent.

The program, unveiled in January and led by Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, is unusual in one key respect: Congress approved mandatory spending for it in the FY2026 reconciliation bill, something the Defense Department has never had before. The Pentagon must submit its allocation plan to Congress in September, where lawmakers are expected to press for transparency and compliance with guidance already issued.

Industry is eager for clarity. A note to investors from Capital Alpha Partners this week highlighted that "Golden Dome gave something new for U.S. contractors to talk about and position for," but so far details are scarce. At last month's industry summit in Huntsville, Alabama, defense firms got little more than high-level overviews.

Officials say the system architecture should be finalized in September, though it's not clear whether any details will be public. "Even if it's classified, clarity on the architecture may provide something more meaningful for companies to discuss in the October-November earnings season," the Capital Alpha note read.

The initiative is seen as a major business opportunity. Firms are already maneuvering to pitch space interceptors, sensors, communications and AI tools, with the goal of demonstrating technology before the end of Trump's term.

Industry executives have privately said they expect much of the funding will flow into existing programs of record, accelerating work already managed by the Missile Defense Agency and the military services. Guetlein has said that upgrading current systems will be a large part of the mission.

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