Hybridizing nuclear command, control and communications systems puts space infrastructure at risk

Space based nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) systems are increasingly integrated or reliant on commercial as well as government systems. And that hybridization puts space infrastructure at risk as the lines between civilian, commercial and military infrastructure gets blurred, argues a recent opinion article by Qurat-Ul-Ain Shabbir, a researcher at Quaid-i-Azam University and the Centre for International Strategic Studies AJK.

This strategic ambiguity presents a serious risk, according to the article, by potentially accelerating conflict through attacks on civilian systems and increasing the likelihood of miscalculation in already volatile nuclear environments.

See the full article on SpaceNews here.

An illustration of a Starcloud orbital data center, designed to power artificial intelligence workloads in space. Credit: Starcloud

The governance gap: Why orbital data centers need certification before they scale

More companies around the world are forging ahead with plans for orbital data center constellations. But those plans will be stymied by a lack of shared architectures and standards, argues a commentary article by John David Callison, a global strategic sourcing executive and advisor at Abelian Security Council, and Joseph Minafra, lead of innovation and technical partnerships for the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute.

"The absence of shared standards does more than slow progress; it distorts the economics," they wrote. "Investors price uncertainty, and in today’s environment, every orbital data center is effectively a first-of-its-kind system. That means unquantifiable technical risk, limited comparables and ultimately a higher cost of capital. Until interoperability and certification frameworks exist, financing will remain constrained not by ambition but by avoidable uncertainty."

See the full article here.

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FROM SPACENEWS

The race to establish off-planet computing: On Thursday, April 30, join us in Washington, D.C., for the next event in our orbital data centers series. Our program kick off with a fireside chat with the FCC's Jay Schwarz and includes discussions with leaders from Star Catcher, Varda Space Industries, Overview Energy, The Aerospace Corporation, Voyager Technologies, Technology Strategy Partners, Planet and more. See the full agenda and request an invitation.

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