The space sector is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by advancements in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and private investment. Thousands of smaller, more affordable satellites are being launched, leading to a boom in commercial space data and services.
Today’s space sector is at an inflection point, poised to capitalize on the tech sector’s gains from cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Just a decade ago, the space economy was dominated by large, school bus-sized satellites. These billion-dollar workhorses served military, intelligence, and civil agencies well for decades, with slow improvements made to their subsystems.
Then, much like the tech tsunami that rendered mainframe computers obsolete in the '80s and '90s, the space industry experienced its own revolution. Since then, the commercial space sector has exploded, with thousands of satellites launched every year—most no larger than a small desk, many the size of a shoebox. As next-generation space capabilities are increasingly procured from off-the-shelf technology solutions, with private capital driving most of the development, it’s hard to believe that the government was once initially resistant to such sweeping change. The Space Force, in particular the Space Development Agency (SDA), is fully embracing this digital revolution, and several new offices are contracting directly with commercial space data companies. This is a remarkable shift, encouraging the creation of new commercial companies and generating jobs and tax revenue in place of dependence on government funding. It allows for critical space technology to advance at the same pace as Silicon Valley innovations, bolstering the U.S. as the world’s leading space economy in the same way it has dominated in consumer technologies. Yet, a major challenge remains in reinventing the government’s planning and acquisition processes to keep up with the speed and flexibility of the commercial space sector. Holding the private sector to the centralized, statist methods of the past will not work, and change is necessary for the U.S. to remain competitiv
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