Monday, February 9, 2026

Space Minds: The future of the Space Force in a competitive, congested and contested space environment

02/09/2026

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In this episode of Space Minds, Mike Gruss sits down with a panel of experts at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center to discuss the future of the United States Space Force. He's joined by Susanne Hake from Vantor, John Plumb from K2 Space and Dennis Woodfork from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

As part of an event at the Center's Discovery Series, they explored the problems congestion on orbit creates, where the Space Force needs to focus next and possible application for AI.

FROM THE CONVERSATION

"What is one emerging space technology you think is most underappreciated?"

John Plumb: "The emergence of high bandwidth direct-to-cell phone satcom is underappreciated. It is coming. It's actually coming faster than anyone appreciates."

Dennis Woodfork: "The ability to communicate between constellations, between networks, is an underappreciated technology."

Susanne Hake: "Have we been up here for 20 minutes, and no one said AI yet? Okay, just checking. ... I think one of the things that's really top of mind is cyber resilience."

Watch or listen to this episode.

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