This EO couldn’t have arrived at a timelier moment in the U.S., as near-peer competitors are currently making major investments in AI space capabilities that pose a growing threat to the nation’s dominance and advantage in the space domain. The U.S. government and military are highly aware of adversaries’ investments in space-based AI military capabilities and are turning to the U.S. Space Force to answer the call to defend American assets in space by building its own AI capability set.

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies recently hosted Dr. Lisa Costa, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer (CTIO) of the U.S. Space Force, at a Schriever Spacepower Forum to examine the AI advancements adversarial nations have made in the space domain and to outline how the Space Force will maintain a technological advantage over U.S. near-peer competitors.

As CTIO of the Space Force, Dr. Costa oversees the development of strategy and policy to advance science, technology, and research of cutting-edge technologies that will digitally transform the Space Force. She is also responsible for leading teams working on the advancement of AI in the space domain, as well as determining the AI capabilities adversarial nations like China are currently fielding and deploying in the domain.

China and AI
Dr. Costa opened the forum by discussing China’s approach to leveraging AI and machine learning (ML) in space. She explained that in 2023, China is projected to spend $14.7 billion on AI and that by 2026 that figure will increase to $26 billion.

“That’s an extremely large investment,” said Dr. Costa. “Not only are they applying that to AI research, they’re applying it to the operationalization of AI.” She explained that according to a recent Pentagon report to Congress, China is focused on AI domination in order to probe enemy vulnerabilities and advance the concept of intelligentized warfare. From applications to robotics, China is seeking to develop an autonomous, orbital platform in space that can make determinations on who is and isn’t an adversary through AI technologies. Through these investments in AI, China is effectively constructing an enhanced counter-space capability set.

“The People’s Republic of China (PRC) argue that the increasing frequency, complexity, and risks of space missions raise the need for incorporating AI and autonomy to support and protect China’s space assets,” she explained. And according to Dr. Costa, China is already testing and fielding these space-based capabilities.

In April of this year, China held an experiment where they allowed an autonomous AI to control and operate a camera on an optical satellite for 24 hours. The test results revealed that the AI focused on two main areas: a region in Japan that houses U.S. aircraft carriers, as well as a contentious zone between India and China that is known to have “skirmishes.” According to Dr. Costa, these demonstrations and tests, make it clear that China has and will continue to pursue new, space-based capabilities that can threaten the U.S.’ advantage in the domain.

So, what is the Space Force’s answer to this growing threat?

Space Force’s response
To keep up with the pace of China’s growing AI capability set, the U.S. Space Force is focusing on the digital transformation and modernization of its existing space assets. “A lot of people think that because we are a new service, we got all new equipment,” said Dr. Costa. “Well, that’s not quite true.” Dr. Costa explained that the U.S. Space Force has several satellite constellations that are currently operating on older networks.

“Working to modernize those capabilities is absolutely critical,” said Dr. Costa. “It’s very difficult to build incredibly advanced AI modeling, simulation, and digital twins on top of old infrastructure.” According to Dr. Costa, her office’s first priority is to fix the “tech debt” of its system and network foundations in order to accommodate the amount of data throughput and processing that is required to have a space-based advantage.

Another priority that Dr. Costa’s office is focusing on is upskilling current Space Force guardians to be “super coders.” Equipping guardians with the knowledge and skills to augment capabilities and systems through coding is a major advantage for the U.S., according to Dr. Costa. “That combination of modernization of the foundation, with the real-time changes to capabilities by super coders, is a huge game changer,” said Dr. Costa.

AI and data
One space-based challenge that both the U.S. and China share – as it pertains to space – is the quantity and quality of data that they must analyze. “It’s a common problem that cuts across all of these areas, not only for China, but for us as well,” said Dr. Costa.

But in Dr. Costa’s opinion, the data issue is one that is going to be fixed soon. “I fundamentally believe this is going to be a very solved problem very quickly,” she said. “Why do I believe that? Machine learning and natural language processing are at a point now that computer-based tagging of large amounts of information, in real-time, is possible.” Dr. Costa explained that computer systems and applications are more consistent and more efficient at marking up data than humans. “I believe this is going to be a real game changer in terms of being able to use AI in the operational space,” said Dr. Costa.

To hear more from Dr. Costa on how the U.S. Space Force is leveraging data and space-based AI capabilities to maintain a competitive edge in the space domain, click the video below.

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Earlier this month at the SATELLITE 2023 conference, artificial intelligence and satellite experts across commercial industry convened during a special panel, “How AI and Space Technologies Combine to Benefit the Critical Mission,” to explore the different applications, benefits and some threats AI can deliver to the U.S. military’s space initiatives.

Space, the military, and AI
One fact that all the panelists agreed on was that artificial intelligence, in general, is a technology meant to extract humans out of routine operational functions. According to SpiderOak & York Space Systems’ Charles Beames, “What it does is it replaces people.”

“Everything we do in space, we do it for the data,” explained Beames. “And a big part of creating data is doing the analytics to make [data] useful. Rather than having thousands of people looking at each piece of data, they can deploy these great algorithms…that can actually be a huge force multiplier.”

Lockheed Martin’s Johnathon Caldwell brought up the point that the relevance of data has a short lifespan, as speed is a dominant factor in the space domain. “With the sensors we have on orbit and with people in the loop, we have a hard time today keeping up with analyzing the data,” explained Caldwell. “The human factor is the limiting factor.”

He explained that as commercial industry and the military build satellite sensors to proliferation, humans on the ground are going to be unable to keep pace with the sheer volume of incoming data. “It’s not data that policymakers and military leaders need, but rather knowledge and information to be able to make decisions,” said Caldwell. “To process the volume of data that’s going to be coming off of the sensors, networks, and systems is going to require us to move into a new era of how we think about looking at that data.”

When reframing how data is regarded, it is critical to remember that data is not always relevant, and that it will not stay relevant forever. While it’s been established that the military and federal government has a problem keeping up with data volumes, they also have a greater issue of sifting through that data – at the speed of conflict – and decide which information is relevant to decision-making.

“We have to clean the table…and get on to the relevant data,” said Caldwell. “It all happens at such an amazing tempo. The speed of space is already high, and the speed of conflict will amp up the timetable in which decisions need to be made. And it’s going to be much quicker than any of us anticipate.”

AI can simplify data complexities
By leveraging AI within their space architectures, the federal government and military can have the ability to analyze information faster and automate some of the more routine – yet extremely complex – processes.

According to SES Space & Defense’s Ram Rao, at the heart of AI are the complexities involved in network systems. “Every system is huge,” said Rao. “For example, SES Space & Defense’s O3b mPOWER satellites are going to be operational by the end of this year, and each of those satellites will have 5,000 beams. With 11 satellites in tow, the O3b mPOWER constellation will, in total, have 55,000 beams. There has to be resource management systems which can really control all those beams and complexities that come with it.”

Rao explained that the amount of incoming and outgoing data that these satellites will be processing cannot be managed by humans alone. Factors like power, bandwidth, and interference management, along with beam switching, hopping, shaping, and formatting, will require more than just traditional conventional algorithms, machine learning to handle vast amount of data as well as deep learning algorithms with neural networks adapting and learning from the data.

“Approaching conventional management methods makes it very difficult to really address the requirements,” explained Rao. “Especially when it comes to the speed of implementing.” He went on to explain that if the military were to execute a mission and needed to switch from one satellite beam to another beam, data computing must occur extremely fast to ensure seamless mission communications.

Especially in times of crisis or conflict, if adversaries were to target U.S. military or government satellites, AI technology could detect attacks before they occur, and switch services over to other satellites in the same orbit, or in a different orbit altogether. By being able to sense and elude an enemy’s jamming, interference or degradation of U.S. space assets, the military would have created a resilient space architecture that is capable of denying any attempts adversaries were to make to interrupt critical missions.

“SES Space & Defense’s specialization is end-to-end connectivity, which includes space, satellites, and ground systems,” said Rao. “If there is a degradation or jamming trend that is occurring on-orbit, AI could alert human operators to the trend and ensure that those kinds of critical issues are addressed. Managing those things and making sure that the satellites and systems are healthy is very important. That can be done, but not just through manual, higher-level monitoring. It has to be at a very low – and very intelligent – level. That is an example of when AI becomes critically important.”

To learn about how artificial intelligence is becoming the key to protecting the U.S. Army’s space assets, click HERE.

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During the modernization and digital transformation sessions at AUSA 2022, attendees learned that the U.S. Army has begun to adopt cutting-edge technologies to be able to maintain both deterrent and warfighting advantages over its adversaries. Autonomous technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), are top of mind for the Army, especially as it pertains to protecting its assets in space.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) interests in space do not end with the U.S. Space Force and Air Force. All military branches have a deep reliance on space, as most of the military connectivity, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities likely pass through the DoD’s space architecture at one point in time.

This is particularly true for the Army. For warfighters in off-grid environments, connectivity provided by satellite communications (SATCOM) can sometimes be their only line of communication to mission leaders and decision-makers at central command. Army leadership relies on SATCOM to make intel-based decisions and then transmit those orders to the warfighter in theatre. Without SATCOM, warfighters can be left in the dark, putting their mission and lives at risk, and senior decision-makers would lack the real-time intelligence they need to make data-driven decisions.

Army automation through AI/ML
U.S. near-peer competitors are fully aware of how critical SATCOM services are to the U.S. Army and look to undermine and degrade them by any means necessary. From jamming to kinetic attacks – which adversaries like China and Russia have proven to be capable of – the Army must protect its satellites and other space assets from these types of threats by developing and employing new technologies that are capable of defending against such attacks.

And it seems that the Army has found that cutting-edge defensive solution in AI/ML. Thankfully, these solutions couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, as U.S. adversaries are now explicitly calling for the attacks of American commercial satellites. In recent news coming out of Russia, senior foreign ministry officials at the Kremlin have stated that U.S. commercial satellites and their “quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike.”

As the threat to Army assets in space moves from theoretical to looming reality, the DoD has kicked its vision for a resilient space architecture into high-gear, with military leadership looking to AI/ML for automated threat detection and defense of American space assets.

One area of particular interest to the Army is having the ability to switch frequencies and signals across satellites and orbits. If a satellite were about to be jammed, degraded, or destroyed, the Army can now begin deploying AI/ML software that can detect an attack before it occurs and transfer service over from the soon-to-be compromised satellite to another protected and available asset within the space architecture. 

Through advancements in AI/ML automation, detection and response of potential interference or targeting occurs much faster than it would with manually monitoring. If a space asset has indeed been compromised, AI/ML enables satellite frequencies to automatically roll over to another satellite in the same orbit, or even a different orbit, denying any enemy attempts to interrupt service. This new technology is invaluable as Army decision-makers cannot afford to have congested or degraded communications, especially when critical missions and lives on the ground are at stake.

O3b mPOWER and smart tech
For commercial satellite companies like SES Space and Defense, these AI/ML advancements will complement the natively smart capabilities that have been installed on their newer satellites. The company’s highly anticipated Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellation – O3b mPOWER – will be inherently hardened against such adversarial attacks and will have automated detection and response capabilities already baked into the assets.

To take it a step further, SES has also successfully tested O3b mPOWER’s multi-orbit capability set, which is a critical component for AI/ML technology to operate seamlessly. In September of 2021, SES and Hughes successfully utilized the Hughes Resource Management System to seamlessly switch signals across SES satellites in MEO and Geostationary orbit (GEO).

According to Jim Hooper, SES Space and Defense’s Senior Vice President for Space Initiatives, the successfully multi-orbit tests illustrated, “…the power of next-generation satellite services and technologies to provide mission-critical, assured communications to the government and military, at a time when connectivity is increasingly essential.”

Increasingly autonomous COMSATCOM software that leverages AI/ML, combined with the smart technology that has already been built into commercial satellite constellations, like O3b mPOWER, can provide the U.S. Army with a more resilient space architecture. As a result, the Army will be fully prepared to thwart adversarial attacks and continue to deliver seamless and interrupted connectivity, communications, intel, and other mission-critical services to warfighters on the ground.

To learn more about how Hughes and SES successfully switched signals between GEO, MEO, and LEO satellites, click HERE.

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Understanding that cloud customers will rely on satellite to access their cloud services and cloud-native applications in geographically remote and isolated areas, Microsoft recently launched Azure Space, and announced a number of innovative partnerships with satellite providers, such as SES Space and Defense. They also introduced Azure Orbital and the Azure Modular Data Center, which are designed to help make cloud connectivity at the tactical edge easier for government cloud users.

In the second part of our illuminating interview with Steve, we set out to learn more about these exciting announcements from Azure Space. We also discussed how innovations in the space and satellite industry are opening the door for the ubiquitous, global connectivity necessary to power government cloud and digital transformation initiatives.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): While our readers are undoubtedly familiar with Microsoft Azure, they may not be as familiar with Azure Space, which I understand is a relatively new entity. Can you tell our readers a bit more about Azure Space and its mission?

Steve Kitay: Microsoft publicly launched Azure Space a year ago, although we’ve been working on standing it up for more than two years. The mission of Azure Space is bringing the cloud and space together to empower our customers both on and off the planet.

Our approach to Azure Space is through partnerships and enabling an ecosystem. Microsoft isn’t building and launching its own satellites, but rather partnering with others that do to provide connectivity solutions both to space systems, and anywhere on earth.

We also have cutting-edge AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms to drive insights from the data coming from space. We are also supporting the developer community with unique simulation and digital engineering capabilities. And lastly, while we’re not building or launching our own satellites, we’re bringing our innovation into space.

For example, HP has a computer on the ISS called the Spaceborne computer that we’ve connected to the hyperscale cloud to enable researchers and astronauts to do more. There are a variety of innovation areas that we’re exploring and working on both on and off the planet.

GSR: What is Microsoft Azure Orbital? What does it enable government cloud users to do?

Steve Kitay: Azure Orbital is a fully managed, cloud-based ground station as a service that allows users to communicate with their satellite constellation. This allows them to download data, uplink commands, and process data in the cloud. It also enables Azure services to be deployed to generate products for their customers.

“Governments worldwide are looking for these kinds of connectivity solutions to meet their needs. What we’re doing with SES is bringing the connectivity and compute together so that they’re not just moving the data, but they’re deriving insights and understanding from that data.” – Steve Kitay

Ultimately, it provides modern ground segment technologies, allowing satellite operators to focus on their space mission and product, offloading the responsibility of deployment and maintenance of ground station assets.

The system that we’ve built out is on top of Azure’s global infrastructure and low-latency global fiber networks. The capability of Azure Orbital is building upon a partner ecosystem that includes KSAT, ViaSat, Kratos, Emergent Space Technologies, and several others.

GSR: What about the Microsoft Modular Data Center (MDC)? What is the MDC and what does it do? How is it different from other data centers? What can it enable for government cloud users?

Steve Kitay: We have a suite of edge capabilities, and the MDC is one of them. The MDC and our other edge devices enable the use of Azure from anywhere in the world.

MDC gives customers the capability to deploy a modular data center to remote locations, or to augment existing infrastructure. A major differentiator for the MDC is that customers can run the unit with full network connectivity, or in situations where it’s occasionally connected or even fully disconnected.

“Microsoft isn’t building and launching its own satellites, but rather partnering with others that do to provide connectivity solutions both to space systems, and anywhere on earth.” – Steve Kitay

We have also built in an ability to have satellite connectivity with SES, and other providers, to enable the data center to be connected back to the hyperscale cloud.

GSR: In a recent press release, it was announced that Microsoft would leverage the SES multi-orbit satellite system to give government entities to cloud resources practically anywhere on the globe. Why is a multi-orbit satellite solution ideal for this? What advantages does a multi-orbit constellation or service have over one that is in a single, dedicated orbit?

Steve Kitay: SES is a close partner of Microsoft, and their multi-orbit satellite constellation allows us to better service our customers.

By enabling our customers to access different satellite services at different orbits, we’re giving them the choice and flexibility to choose the right satellite service for their needs and requirements.

Satellite services from different orbits have different advantages, and different satellite services may be optimal for a particular customer’s needs and requirements. By enabling access to multiple options, Microsoft ensures that they have different options they need to meet their needs in regard to pricing, bandwidth, capacity, latency and other factors.

“Azure Orbital is a fully managed, cloud-based ground station as a service that allows users to communicate with their satellite constellation. This allows them to download data, uplink commands, and process data in the cloud.” – Steve Kitay

Our approach brings together partnerships and products to create a comprehensive and resilient satellite tool and solutions that meet the needs of our customers.

GSR: SES is on the precipice of launching a new satellite service – SES O3b mPOWER. What will this new service mean for government and military cloud users? How can it change what is currently possible at the tactical edge?

Steve Kitay: O3b mPOWER is a satellite constellation that we’re specifically partnering with and that they’re leveraging Azure Orbital for ground infrastructure. It’s a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite service that delivers a tremendous increase in flexibility and throughput speed, and cloud-scale capacity to Azure locations across the Earth. And, ultimately, what that means for customers is that fiber-equivalent connectivity will now be available wherever users are located – including in the air, at sea, or on the ground in remote sites in geographically-isolated regions.

O3b mPOWER is delivering secure and resilient network architecture for robust connectivity whether the mission is establishing a secure network at a tactical edge or deploying a UAV for live HD video along a border. Governments worldwide are looking for these kinds of connectivity solutions to meet their needs. What we’re doing with SES is bringing the connectivity and compute together so that they’re not just moving the data, but they’re deriving insights and understanding from that data.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

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This digital transformation was arguably kickstarted by the widespread adoption of the cloud and cloud resources across the government. And it’s being driven forward by cloud-native applications that are being developed, deployed, and hosted in the cloud, where they can be accessed by government and military personnel whenever and wherever the mission requires.

While this digital transformation will only result in the government becoming more effective and efficient, it can only succeed if connectivity and access to cloud resources are ubiquitous across the globe.

The connectivity required for government and military organizations to access and utilize cloud services at the tactical edge is most effectively delivered by satellite. This is creating new collaborations and partnerships between those that operate satellite networks, and the organizations that provide cutting-edge cloud services.

One of the cloud providers leading the pack in embracing satellite connectivity is Microsoft Azure, which recently launched Azure Space, and announced a number of innovative partnerships with satellite providers, such as SES Space and Defense.

We recently sat down with Steve Kitay, the Senior Director of Azure Space at Microsoft, to discuss the trends driving the need for satellite and cloud partnerships, and how cloud services delivered via satellite could revolutionize how governments operate.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): Transitioning to the cloud has been a major initiative for the government over the course of the last few years. What types of cloud use cases are we seeing in the government? What different types of applications and workloads are being moved to the cloud by government agencies? Are mission-critical workloads making their way into the cloud?

Steve Kitay: Government agencies want to benefit from commercial cloud innovation. They want to take advantage of its speed, its scale, and its agility. Transitioning to the cloud reduces costs, provides access to the latest technologies, and diminishes the burden of having to maintain their own legacy infrastructure.

We see government agencies moving a range of workloads to the cloud to rapidly grow their mission capabilities. At the start of the COVID pandemic, we saw a rapid shift to cloud services to enable secure remote work environments through Azure Commercial and Government Clouds, and through the Office 365 productivity suites.

We’re seeing this shift to the cloud across a range of agencies. We’re working with a number of agencies, in particular, to help them use the cloud to solve their mission problems. The Department of Agriculture has leveraged a project called Farm Beats that accesses Azure’s repositories of analytics tools to understand data, and uses AI to help farmers cut costs, increase yields and sustainably grow crops that are more resilient to threats like climate change.

“When we bring (IoT and hybrid infrastructure) together, with AI running across these systems, we enter into an era of Intelligent Edge – a continually expanding set of connected systems and devices that gather and analyze information close to the physical world where the data resides and is harvested.” – Steve Kitay

The Department of Defense (DoD) is working on building out its enterprise cloud capabilities. Branches within the DoD, such as the Air Force, have deployed their own instances. Air Force Cloud One is a good example of a military branch using the cloud to provide foundational cloud capabilities, including networking, monitoring, access control, and identity management.

GSR: Are we seeing the need across different levels and organizations within the government for access to cloud solutions in the field, off-grid, and at the tactical edge? What is driving this requirement? What types of capabilities and applications are they looking to access?

Steve Kitay: The U.S. Government has been clear that they are trying to tap into commercial innovation to unlock new mission scenarios that were simply not possible before. There are two trends that we’re seeing in the government that really illustrate that.

The first trend is the Internet of Things (IoT), which utilizes smart sensors, connected devices, and other network-enabled endpoints to change the way that agencies approach problems. From equipment maintenance, to measuring air quality, to smart cities, and even military outposts, they’re implementing devices that are cloud-connected by default.

The other trend is movement towards hybrid infrastructure – or the integration of traditional datacenter infrastructure, edge devices, and the public cloud. This gives the government access to more compute capabilities in even the world’s most remote locations.

When we bring these two technology trends together, with AI running across these systems, we enter into an era of Intelligent Edge – a continually expanding set of connected systems and devices that gather and analyze information close to the physical world where the data resides and is harvested. This enables them to get real-time insights and immersive experiences that are highly responsive and contextually aware.

There is a space program that is a great example of the Intelligent Edge called the Casino Program, which was done with the Defense Innovation Unit in support of the U.S. Space Force. The rising number of satellites proliferating in low earth orbit (LEO) presents a new data challenge for the ground segment of missions—a segment that is often overlooked.

The Casino Program Office demonstrated fast, flexible, and extensible cloud commercial capabilities for ground processing in support of defense missions.  In this project, the joint Ball Aerospace and Microsoft team demonstrated the ability to transmit overhead, persistent infrared data through commercial satellites to the ground and then be processed both in the hyperscale Azure data center, as well as directly to a tactical vehicle in the field that was equipped with an Azure stack edge device.

“The need for bandwidth and cloud services in remote locations is a large and growing global challenge. The alignment and integration of the Azure cloud with satellites and terrestrial networks further enables the connected, Intelligent Edge…” – Steve Kitay

In this scenario, the overhead satellites transmitted the images of the environment, and that data was then pushed to both Azure and the Azure stack edge device where machine learning algorithms processed the images and detected certain activities and features. This machine learning identification generated insights which were converted into messages and disseminated to multiple endpoints.

This project represents a huge leap forward in reducing the time to actionable insight—if users are on the ground in a tactical edge vehicle or located at a command center, users can obtain necessary information accurately, quickly, and securely.

GSR: How else could access to cloud resources at the tactical edge or on the battlefield impact our warfighters? What could it enable them to do? What services/capabilities could it make possible for them?

Steve Kitay: Well, another great example is the Army’s IVAS program, which is bringing state-of-the-art cloud and mixed reality capability to soldiers at the tactical edge.

The IVAS headset, which is based on HoloLens and augmented by Azure cloud services, delivers a platform that keeps soldiers safer and makes them more effective. The program delivers enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing, and decision making for a variety of scenarios.

GSR: Microsoft has been working with satellite providers – including SES – to enable remote, off-grid access to cloud resources. Why is satellite the right choice for this?

Steve Kitay: Satellite is the right choice because space provides is a global perspective. It enables us to connect people anywhere, whether they’re in the middle of the ocean, the desert, or anywhere else on the Earth.

What is changing now with satellite communications is the type of services being offered. New services are now available with higher bandwidth and lower latencies. And space-generated data is growing exponentially, which requires expanded ground control capabilities, as well as data processing, storage, and analytics to turn that data into knowledge and actionable insights.

The need for bandwidth and cloud services in remote locations is a large and growing global challenge. The alignment and integration of the Azure cloud with satellites and terrestrial networks further enables the connected, Intelligent Edge that I referenced earlier.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

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But when it comes to the United States’ place in near-peer competitions, where exactly does the global superpower fall on the spectrum?

At last month’s Space Innovation Summit 2021, David Hamilton, the Founder and CEO of America’s Future Series, and Nicolas Chaillan, the former – but first-ever – Chief Software Officer (CSO) of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force, held a fireside chat focused on the topic of near-peer competition.

The session and discussion primarily revolved around Chaillan, who recently stepped down from his position last September, and his experiences as CSO. During the session, Chaillan shared his thoughts on the United States’ role as a global competitor and the changes he believes the U.S. government needs to make in order to remain a dominant force on the world stage.

Chaillan had many wins at the Department of Defense (DoD), which included nudging the Department towards modern IT and cybersecurity infrastructures and demonstrating that the DoD could put an advanced cyber stack with zero trust architecture and baked-in security on legacy hardware.

But, as great as Chaillan’s wins were for the Department, he couldn’t shake the startling realizations he was having as CSO. “We proved again and again that all this is possible,” said Chaillan. “It is possible to move at a pace of relevance in the U.S. government. Unfortunately, what we were not seeing is a sense of urgency, particularly when it comes to China.”

According to Chaillan, the term “near-peer adversary” should not be applied in any discussion pertaining to China. “We like to call them the near-peer adversary, but I completely disagree with that,” explained Chaillan. “I would argue that they’re leading actually in cybersecurity, and also in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) adoption.”

Chaillan pointed to strict mandates placed on enterprise and industry technologies by the Chinese government as the primary catalyst of China surpassing the U.S. in these areas. But, in the end, Chaillan ultimately places most of the blame on the U.S. government for China’s lead.

“We see the U.S. government becoming complacent and getting used to China catching up,” said Chaillian. “We should be leading so far with the amount of money we’re spending…We probably get a 10 cent ROI on the dollar.”

Chaillan also directed sharp criticism towards the DoD’s current reliance on waterfall IT approaches, its slow-drip pace on agile adoption, the Department’s “nightmare of an acquisition process,” as well as “siloes and egos,” all of which he believes is crippling the U.S. from becoming a credible competitor on the world stage.

According to Chaillan, all of the U.S. government’s pitfalls equate to a “very poor return on investment ratio, which leads to China catching up.”

To illustrate his vision of how he’d like the U.S. government to position itself in terms of being a global competitor, he used Tesla as an example.

“Tesla is completely fine open-sourcing their patents, because they’re moving so fast that they know by the time their competitors even remotely catch up, they’re going to be five miles ahead.” He explained that the U.S. should “be exactly in that role.”

Chaillan believes that the U.S. is in a bit of denial when it pertains to its attitude of where the country falls on the competitive spectrum. “We need to stop telling ourselves that we’re way ahead and someday they’ll catch us.”

Chaillan also explained that China is targeting to be the world leader in AI by 2030, and that the country is already far ahead of where our current capabilities stand. And even though the 2030 date may make it seem like the U.S. has time to catch up, Chaillan revealed a startling fact about China’s dominance in the AI arena. A fact that he believes should be a wake-up call for the U.S. government.

Due to the nature of AI technology and how it advances and evolves, “You get to a point where you won’t be able to catch up,” explained Chailllan. “So, we estimate December of 2022 to be the deadline by which if the U.S. government does not wake up, we will not have an ability to catch up. And that means a real existential threat for our kids and the nation.”

Despite Chaillan’s bleak outlook, he does believe there are solutions that can help change the U.S. government’s course for the better.

He believes that the concept of agility is key. “The whole concept of agile is the continuous, small, and incremental delivery of value in production in a tangible way used by the actual end-user warfighter,” explained Chaillan.

Chaillan explained that the U.S. government needs to improve on training leaders and warfighters on agile. He also believes that training to needs to happen much earlier during the on-boarding process. Chaillan also believes that mandating DevSecOps approaches to new programs would be a huge step forward for the DoD. He also pointed to further empowerment of current and future workforces, by investing in continuous learning and being on top of breaking IT and cybersecurity trends.

Space and satellite innovation

China taking the lead in AI and ML innovation should be a wake-up call to our country – an example of how complacency can result in us losing our leadership position in other areas. The space domain would be one area where America has always led in innovation and capability, but could soon find their leadership in question.

The U.S. military has always relied on space capabilities to enable warfighters in the field. Our near-peer adversaries have seen the success and strategic edge that space and satellites technologies have given the U.S. in the past, and they want to emulate it. Though the U.S. has remained extremely competitive in space, it is anticipated that that edge could quickly evaporate.

One way that the U.S. can maintain its lead ahead of near-peer competitors is to turn to the innovations and solutions the commercial satellite industry can provide. Today’s commercial satellite industry is the clear innovator in the space domain, and the military should be looking to leverage their solutions whenever possible, instead of building their own.

Building and launching the satellites that the commercial satellite industry is launching today could take the U.S. military half a decade or more, depending on how smoothly the appropriation and acquisition processes run. Instead of the U.S. government building and launching its own purpose-built satellites and having them operational in five year’s time, it could partner with the commercial satellite companies whose technologies and services are immediately available, can be tailored to specific mission needs, and are priced at a fraction of the cost of building an entire satellite.

The concern about the U.S. losing its competitive and innovative edge extends well beyond AI, cybersecurity, and machine learning. In fact, it’s a problem that extends all the way into space. Partnering closely with industry, the true innovators in space, instead of trying to emulate what industry partners are doing today could save years of time and money for the U.S. government, and help the country maintain its competitive edge in space.

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Unfortunately, that simply isn’t a reality for all government entities and agencies in the United States. Some small cities and rural towns – including geographically-isolated rural communities in places such as Alaska and the Midwest – are without access to broadband connectivity. And there are many places across this country where our government might want to have connected personnel in the field, or even IoT sensors that upload data to the cloud in real-time, that don’t have any connectivity – including access to wireless networks – because they’re just so remote.

If we’re going to embrace digital transformation and utilize these new technologies to their fullest, they need to be operable and accessible everywhere in the country. Unfortunately, there is currently a digital divide in America between places with existing terrestrial networks that have access to advanced technologies and IT capabilities, and those without them that are left behind or otherwise remain in the dark.

The benefits of these new technologies shouldn’t be limited only to the states, cities and municipalities that have access to high-bandwidth, terrestrial networks. And the federal government should be able to benefit from the IoT and other tools anywhere in our country – regardless of the presence of terrestrial networks.

These tools should be available to all parts of the U.S. Government – federal, state and city. And multi-orbit, high-throughput, low latency satellite networks could be the key to bridging that digital divide.

Building a bridge from space
Today’s advanced satellites are capable of delivering fiber-like connectivity to practically any corner of the globe, making them the perfect solution for leveling the digital playing field. However, there have traditionally been challenges keeping the U.S. government and its agencies from embracing satellite communications in this role.

Cost concerns, reliability challenges and fears about ease of use have long left government agencies uneasy about utilizing satellite more extensively and aggressively to meet their respective connectivity requirements. But this, too, could be about to change.

SES, one of the world’s largest satellite providers, is already operating a multi-orbit satellite constellation that is being utilized by the U.S. Government.

SES has made multiple exciting announcements about new capabilities, partnerships and technologies that it is launching to help address those fears and make satellite connectivity better, faster, easier and more accessible for government organizations. Let’s take a look at some of these announcements and what they could mean for government users.

Laying the groundwork for the government of tomorrow
SES announced that they had chosen SpaceX to launch their O3b mPOWER next generation satellites into orbit. The launches may be a few years away, but the satellites that they’ll carry have incredible potential to revolutionize the satellite industry. The O3b mPOWER satellites will be capable of delivering incredible bandwidth and throughputs, coupled with drastically reduced latency as a result of their location in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO).

The O3b mPOWER satellites are the next generation of SES’s existing O3b MEO satellites, which are already relied upon across the globe to deliver high-throughput, low-latency connectivity to geographically-isolated areas without terrestrial networks. The announcement of SpaceX as the launch partner for those satellites is just another step towards making this constellation a reality.

In addition to the SpaceX announcement, SES also announced the expansion of their existing relationship with Microsoft, which will make it easier for government agencies to utilize Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

The cloud is the backbone for many of the advanced technologies that are making digital transformation so essential across the government today. The expanded partnership between SES and Microsoft will enable government users to leverage the company’s satellite-enabled managed services to connect locations and sites in remote and underserved locations globally that previously did not have access to cloud services.

Ultimately, these announcements illustrate a larger trend – SES and SES Space and Defense are laying the groundwork for a revolutionary new generation of satellites that will make satellite connectivity and services better, easier to use, more automated and  accessible than ever before for the government.

With this groundwork in place, a new constellation and satellite service will be built that will make it possible to empower digital government services and capabilities across our country – even in the most remote, rural and geographically-isolated of places. The days of the digital divide are numbered. Soon, there will no longer be “haves” and “have nots,” just an entire globe connected from space via next generation satellite.

To learn more about O3b mPOWER and its government use cases, click HERE.

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Nowhere is this more apparent than in the INDOPACOM Area of Responsibility (AoR). This region spans 36 countries and incorporates more than 50 percent of the world’s total population. It’s also one of the most important for our military, strategically, since it’s the location of multiple adversaries. Unfortunately, much of this AoR is separated from the U.S. by a vast ocean.

To learn about some of the different ways the military is utilizing satellites and other communications methods to enable connectivity in the INDOPACOM AoR, the Government Technology Insider’s Peter Jacobs recently sat down with two experts: Chris Kinman, Vice President of Business Development at SES Space and Defense, and Fred Ferares, Director of Defense at Verizon. During their discussion, Peter asked Chris and Fred about how LEO and MEO satellite networks can deliver the high-throughput, high-reliability connectivity that’s critical to DoD’s mission.

Here is what they had to say:

Government Technology Insider (GTI): INDOPACOM covers a huge area of the globe and includes allies, trading partners and adversaries and DoD has assigned more than 200 ships and 375,000 personnel to the region. So with all that diversity—geographic, terrain, environmental, cultural—are there common communications challenges that U.S. forces are facing in this region?

Chris Kinman, SES Space and Defense (CK): Oh, absolutely. The wide space, the ocean coverage presents so many challenges. On top of that, the weather, as it changes over the years, is presenting another challenge for such a widely-dispersed military force. So, there’s been quite a bit of a challenge in that area.

Fred Ferares, Verizon (FF): I agree. They’ve got some significant capabilities that are already present within the region, and you look at fixed locations, like the bases, the posts, the camps, and the stations, they’re dealing with challenges for diversity, redundancy, reliability. And there’s a lot of capability, as I said, in the AOR. But when you get to the deployed forces and the contested environments that they may have to operate in, in time of war, bandwidth and redundancy of capability is going to be an enormous challenge that needs to be addressed, especially as we are seeing the evolution of disruptive technologies being pushed to the deployed forces.

GTI: Do these issues limit the kinds of technologies that can actually be used in theater? Are some things just not practical for that sort of deployment?

FF: I think some of these technologies would be practical, but we have to change the mode or the model in which we deliver bandwidth to the deployed forces. So, with the evolution of things like machine-to-machine and AI, various cloud-based services, software-defined networking to deliver all that bandwidth to execute these missions, I think you need reliable communications. But in addition to that, you need compute and storage at the edge.

Just to use Verizon as an example, we have a 5G capability that we’re rolling out in the United States that has intelligent edge networking to take care of offloading that bandwidth back into the core. And I think that the services need to develop a similar model so that they can deliver with a speed of need the data, the processing at the edge, in a low-latency type experience.

This gets back to how you’re going to be able to deliver these new, modern, disruptive technologies. And there are a lot of organizations that are focused on trying to help deliver this. You’ve got folks like DARPA and the various labs that are looking at different communications methodologies, different architectures to deliver these types of capabilities to the warfighter.

GTI: High-throughput, more reliable bandwidth obviously supports in theater warfighting functions like C5ISR, targeting, situational awareness, and ass Fred mentioned, edge computing. What else could the military take advantage of?

CK: As you indicated and Fred talked about with the technology getting better, what we’ve done is looked ahead and tried to leapfrog and determine how we can increase our capabilities. (We’re looking) at the latest technology, the most powerful satellites we can develop in this day and age, to try to figure out how we can actually increase throughput, trying to get all that latency out of the way so that we can do those things down at the tactical edge. Maybe do more computing power, more processing, and more storage locally, rather than relying on some of the cloud trends that are happening right now.

We understand that cloud is important and we could probably service that cloud capability or need with low latency satellites. But we’ve just tried to find the right mix and right solution that will enable that speed to a better technology in the future. So we push the limits with our satellite technology. We’ve got another seven satellites that we want to launch into a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) in the next couple of years. Once these are launched it  will definitely help you know what that need for lower latency, high throughput and better compute capability are at the edge of the battlefield.

FF: As Chris was saying, this ability to provide the low latency experience to the folks that are out there floating around on the oceans, for example, or as the DoD projects its power ashore and you need to bring that capability along with you. I think he’s exactly right that we also need to be able to deploy and support a capability to process at the edge, to store at the edge. And when you’re disconnected, operate at the edge. But then, when we rely upon the communications paths that are available—the satellite architecture that’s being improved every day as we speak—when that connection is restored, that we’re able to reach back to those various command and control nodes and  other resources outside the INDOPACOM AOR that can help us affect the DOD’s mission.

CK: Let me add something else related to the new satellite technologies in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). What that actually provides is additional inherent resiliency and security. The fact that these satellites are actually moving overhead—like a mobile cell phone tower is actually moving overhead—all of that that technology that provides the linkage and the handoff and the network connectivity, that’s all been built-in years in the past, and we’ve been able to deploy that technology with these MEO satellites and provide lower latency (and) more security because they are moving, and provide additional bandwidth because they’re so low to the Earth. And that gives us more frequency space to provide other security measures for the waveform that’s actually provided to these end users that are out in remote areas in the Pacific.

GTI: What about interference with that technology – jamming and direct attacks on satellites? Are these risks greater with Medium Earth Orbit satellites?

CK: No, they’re actually a lot less because, the fact that the satellites are moving overhead, it requires the capability of threat forces to actually track those satellites, and that’s very difficult to do. The beams that are laid down on the Earth are very narrow and they’re very hard to detect because you have to actually be within that beam. The data that’s actually going through these satellite beams are encrypted and may, in fact, be spread using spread spectrum techniques to protect the waveform. So, all those variables contribute to a more secure and reliable sort of inherent anti-jam solution. So, we’re in a really good spot right now with the next generation of satellites.

GTI: When you’re dealing in these austere environments where personnel are widely dispersed, is interference a major issue?

FF: At the core of this is a question of how does the DOD execute its mission: do we use commercial SATCOM capabilities or stick to just military SATCOM capabilities? I think that the DOD should consider some sort of a blended approach in its architecture. My opinion only, not validated by any research here, but I wouldn’t think that an adversary would want to take out the entire satellite architecture that probably supports its own government and economies.

And at the scale that we’re talking about, too, for some sort of countermeasures against satellite communications, some sort of jamming, missiles, or any other type of technology to disable or destroy a satellite orbiting in support of the U.S. forces, when you start having the number of Lower and Middle Earth Orbit satellites that are available—you’ve got companies like SES here and then Amazon and OneWeb and Elon Musk and you name it—there’s a lot of different folks that are talking about adding to that satellite constellation at multiple different levels to support passing data around the planet.

So, I think if we can leverage what’s available and that helps us with our diversity and our redundancy in some sort of a meshed construct, I think the Department of Defense will benefit from that and minimize any risk to taking out pieces/parts/portions of the satellite architecture.

For the rest of their exciting interview, click HERE to read the original article on the Government Technology Insider. For additional information on the role that MEO and GEO satellite can play in enabling communications in the INDOPACOM AoR, click HERE to download the white paper, “High Throughput on the High Seas.”

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The panel was moderated by C4ISTNET Editor, Mike Gruss, and featured a list of space experts, including:

• James Comfort, Principal Deputy Director, Geospatial Intelligence Systems Acquisition Directorate, National Reconnaissance Office
• Col. Steve Butow, Space Portfolio Director, Defense Innovation Unit
• Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation
• Pete Hoene, President and CEO, SES Space and Defense

During that discussion, the panelists talked about how America could be embroiled in a new, 21^st Century Space Race. Unlike the previous Space Race, which was all about getting a man into space and onto the Moon first, this Space Race involves the development and deployment of satellite capabilities and networks. Also unlike the previous Space Race, the panelists seem to believe that there was a real chance that America could lose.

Unfortunately for the United States, the near-peer adversaries that we’re currently racing against are gaining on us. But the U.S. government and military could have an ace up their sleeve in the form of the commercial satellite industry, which is currently innovating and advancing space and satellite capabilities at a breakneck pace.

Acquisition and funding challenges create bottleneck
Keeping the military’s technological edge is becoming increasingly difficult. The United States simply doesn’t play by the same rules as its adversaries.

While the United States has a clear delineation between the private companies spearheading innovation and the country’s government, military and national defense organizations, adversaries such as Russia and China do not. Our adversaries also have less stringent oversight on spending and fewer hurdles keeping them from acquiring the technologies and solutions they need.

As Col. Butow explained, “[The United States] work[s] in one-year steps. Our adversaries don’t. They want it, they buy it and employ it tomorrow. If we’re too late for the FY 2020 [National Defense Authorization Act], we’ll have to get it in 2021.”

Combined, these factors could contribute to the United States running a Space Race against extremely advanced, near-peer adversaries with its legs bound. And while the country may have enjoyed a head-start, the restrictions and limitations that it uniquely faces could have the other runners breathing down our necks in no time.

The problem was explained by Victoria Samson, who said:

“There is a recognition over the past couple of decades that the way that military space has been developed and acquired is not current…the government is trying to figure out how we handle that. We see that in Congress right now. The appropriators want one thing, the authorizers want another. They’re probably not going to get it sorted anytime soon. It’s a time of change, and our institutional processes are struggling to keep up.”

Overcoming the acquisition hurdle
Historically, the government and military have treated the acquisition of satellite capacity and services the way they would any other commodity. Satellite capacity has been bought on the spot market, which often costs more. However, the extra cost isn’t the largest problem with acquiring satellite this way – it’s the lack of cooperation and collaboration with the satellite industry that results from spot purchases that is really hindering the government.

The government and military could benefit greatly by working hand-in-hand with the satellite industry in a collaborative, consultative environment. By sharing their challenges and requirements more fully and working collaboratively with industry to address them, the government would effectively gain access to an innovative partner that could help them identify new and different approaches and technologies to help them overcome their problems.

To make this a reality, the government and military would have to rethink its approach and relationship with the satellite industry. This was a sentiment that was expressed and championed by the panelists – many of which urged the government to work more closely with the space and satellite industry, move to embrace more public-private partnerships and work to give the military more freedom and flexibility in how it spends dollars.

Along these lines, Mr. Hoene called for increased, clearer communications between government customers and commercial owners/operators when he said, “If there’s a way to share some of the threat requirements and demand signals…[commercial SATCOM providers] can get the investors in our companies to pursue new and innovative capabilities to meet emerging U.S. government threat characteristics. Industry can bring a lot to the table if we ask the right questions and we’re given the proper answers.”

Discussions at the C4ISRNET Conference showed there is a new Space Race ongoing – but this one has more participants than the one previously won by the United States. While our military has a head start, it’s quickly evaporating. If the U.S. is going to keep its technological offset, commercial industry is going to be the key. Military leaders and Congress need to make it easier and faster for decision makers to purchase and acquire the innovative solutions they need.

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While much of the discussion at this year’s conference was focused on new, disruptive technologies the government and military are looking to embrace on-base and in the field – including mobility, IoT, AI and Big Data – there were two other incredibly poignant and important trends identified that are occurring in space.

These trends were identified and discussed during a panel discussion entitled, “Capitalizing on the commercial space renaissance.” The panel was moderated by C4ISTNET Editor, Mike Gruss, and featured a list of space experts, including:

• James Comfort, Principal Deputy Director, Geospatial Intelligence Systems Acquisition Directorate, National Reconnaissance Office
• Col. Steve Butow, Space Portfolio Director, Defense Innovation Unit
• Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation
• Pete Hoene, President and CEO, SES Space and Defense

What were the trends? The first was the advent of a new space renaissance, and the second was the potential resurrection of the Space Race, which dominated headlines and stretched the imaginations of people around the globe for a large part of the 20^th century.

Let’s look at each of these trends individually, although they are inherently linked.

A new Space Race?
it was just a little more than half a century since the United States and the former Soviet Union were working to out-science and out-spend each other in an attempt to make it into space and onto the Moon first. Now, 62 years after Sputnik, the starting gun may have been fired to begin a new Space Race. And it’s no longer being run between two parties.

For much of the past few decades, space has been a benign environment for the United States. We have utilized it to deliver capabilities and communications to the warfighter without a significant threat to our space assets. But, as Pete Hoene pointed out, “Space is not a safe haven…it’s a warfighting domain. Right now, China and Russia threaten our actions in space.”

This is a problem for the U.S., which has historically enjoyed a technological edge over adversaries thanks in large part to its space assets. However, with the emergence of threats in space, and with adversaries once again investing and innovating in space capabilities, that technological edge could be evaporating.

This was well articulated by Col. Steve Butow when he said, “…we use technology as our offset. If we lose our technological offset, we have to fight a fair fight, and that’s not what we want to do. We want to have technological capabilities that keep us in a dominant position in all domains.”

This is where the commercial space and satellite industry could help, and where the next trend, the new space renaissance, could factor in.

A renaissance in satellite technology
After decades of innovation and invention in space being driven by the United States government, things have shifted, and private industry has taken over in both innovation and investment. Today, satellite owners and operators are rapidly expanding constellations, introducing new satellite technologies with drastically increased throughputs and putting satellites in new orbits. And this is all creating new capabilities and tools that the government can implement and benefit from.

As Mr. Hoene explained, “62 years ago, Sputnik was launched and it created the biggest space race we’ll ever see between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. In the following 50 years, we spent a lot of money in the U.S. government. Over the past ten years, what we’ve found is that commercial has taken over in terms of investment and innovation.”

The introduction of these new technologies and new orbits means that high-throughput satellites (HTS) are now available on orbits closer to the Earth’s surface – including MEO and LEO. The result are incredible throughputs and bandwidth with significantly lower latency since the signal has to physically travel a shorter distance.

Not only can these new satellites meet the high-bandwidth, low-latency requirements of today’s innovative IT solutions, they also have the added benefit of helping increase the resiliency of America’s satellite infrastructure through disaggregation and diversification. As Mr. Hoene explained, “Think about how that would confuse and complicate the enemy’s targeting calculus if you’re looking at 150-plus satellites [operated by commercial owner/operators] as well as the ten WGS satellites. Then think about a multi-orbit approach, where you have LEO and MEO in play and how that can help with overall resilience.”

This ability to increase capacity and resiliency has many military leaders and industry executives advocating for a military satellite network architecture that incorporates both military assets and commercial services. And, based on the following from James Comfort, appears to be the future direction for the military:

“We don’t think it’s a ‘one size fits all.’ LEO does good stuff. MEO does good stuff. GEO does good stuff. What we need to [identify] is, what’s the right thing in MEO? What’s the right thing in LEO? What’s the right thing in GEO? We will probably end up with a mixture…”

Exciting talks of improved resiliency through a combined, integrated architecture are only superseded by the potential for innovation. The speed of development in the space industry drastically outpaces the development within the government and military.

This stark difference in pace of innovation was laid bare by Mr. Hoene who explained, “It takes [commercial providers] two to three years to identify the requirements for a satellite, get it on a launch pad and get it on orbit. The hosted payload, CHIRP, which was hosted on one of our satellites took about three years from contract award to on-orbit capability. The commercial space community…is able to turn around things in a couple of years when purpose built systems for the Department of Defense could take eight to ten years.”

By embracing commercial solutions and integrating commercial into the military’s space architecture, the government is expediting its speed of adoption for new, innovative satellite technologies. This means that commercial technologies, solutions and services could give the technological edge back to the U.S. military in today’s Space Race. But only if they can acquire commercial solutions in an efficient and timely manner.

In part two of our C4ISRNET Conference coverage, we’ll look at the acquisition challenges facing the military and some of the innovative ways for improving the government’s satellite acquisition processes, as suggested by the panelists.

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