In his comments during the event, Gen. Povak explained that the decades-long era of the U.S. being the undisputed leader in space technology, “…is no longer the case.”

Global superpowers like Russia and China are closing the technology gap between themselves and the current capability set the U.S. employs. And while near-peer adversaries continue to heavily invest funds and manpower to the development of capable military space systems, they are also demonstrating aggressive actions in space that could pose real threats to U.S. systems.

“Today, several nations…are actively developing ground and space-based weapons specifically designed to interfere with or destroy our systems in space,” said Gen. Povak. “These counter-space capabilities include missiles and weapons systems designed to deliver direct energy, electronic warfare, and cyber attack defense – all of which threaten our ability to freely access and operate in space.”

With adversaries growing and fielding their arsenal of anti-satellite capabilities, and developing space-enabled lethal weapons systems, Gen. Povak admits that they are, “…gaining on our technology advantage at a rapid pace.” But Gen. Povak assured the forum audience that the NRO remains the world leader in developing and operating space intelligence capabilities, and that the agency is prepared to keep up with the threat and ensure U.S. dominance in the space domain.

NRO and space defense
According to Gen. Povak, the NRO is responsible for the research and development, acquisition, launch, integration, and operation of the nation’s vast constellation of space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

“As a defense agency and an element of the Intelligence Community, the NRO collects intelligence and information to support national level and Department of Defense missions,” Maj. Povak explained. “Overall, NRO’s mission is to work with our partners to gain and maintain the nation’s intelligence advantage during peacetime and throughout periods of crisis and conflict around the world.”

As part of its response to the rapid growth of adversarial capability and presence in the space domain, Gen. Povak said that the NRO is advancing U.S. space-based capabilities through employing cutting-edge technologies that provide real-time situational awareness and intelligence to analysts, policymakers, and warfighters faster than ever before. And according to Gen. Povak, a critical component of these situational awareness and intelligence chains are the commercial partners in the satellite and space industries.

Bringing the NRO and industry together for assured space capabilities
Gen. Povak views commercial satellite data as an especially critical source for situational awareness and intelligence, due to its unclassified and shareable nature. He considers the partnership between industry and the NRO as a valuable tool to continue to rely upon, and highlighted the benefits derived from a modern, hybrid intelligence architecture – pointing to the role commercial satellite imagery played in intelligence gathering throughout the early moments of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“Fortunately, the NRO is already building the largest and most capable, diverse and resilient overhead constellation in our history,” said Gen. Povak. “Within the next decade, NRO expects to quadruple the number of satellites we currently have on-orbit, with different sizes and different orbits for commercial and national.”

He explained that these satellites will deliver more than 10 times as many signals and images that are being collected today. “The proliferation and diversification of our architecture will provide increased coverage, greater capacity and resilience, and more timely delivery of data,” he said. “Such improvements will increase the competence and the relevance of NRO capabilities, which are already the world’s standard of excellence for space-based ISR.”

And industry has been hard at work to help the NRO in its mission of maintaining space-based ISR dominance. According to Gen. Povak, the commercial marketplace for ISR capabilities has significantly grown over the past decade, and the NRO has led contracting efforts with both traditional and new commercial ISR providers.

“Now, we have an array of a community of industry partners that are working hard to get some of these commercially-available products into our architecture,” Gen. Povak explained. “I think the benefits of commercial is not them on their own; it’s how they’re integrated with our infrastructure.”

Gen. Povak noted that space will always continue to be a battleground of constant competition for information advantage, but that the NRO will ensure that the U.S. will maintain its dominance in the domain. “Today, the NRO’s space-based ISR capabilities are without a doubt the best in the world,” he said. “However, in an era of growing competition, our imperative is to develop the technologies, tools, capabilities, and space-minded expertise to stay that way.”

Click the video below to hear more about how the NRO is uniting with industry partners to create its hybrid intelligence architecture and learn about SES Space & Defense’s ISR capabilities.

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During a recent Mitchell Institute Schriever Spacepower Forum, Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) pointed out to Gen. David D. Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations at the Space Force, that space has shifted away from being a benign domain to an extremely competitive operating environment. In response to how the force is maturing as an organization and responding to the level of activity in the domain, Gen. Thompson said, “We are very much clearly in the next chapter of the Space Force…[Now] the mission of the Space Force is to deliver on the capabilities and the promises that we’ve made as part of the establishment.”

Gen. Thompson explained that the Space Force is indeed responding to the changes in the space domain by having a combat-ready force with advanced testing, training, and the ability to deliver warfighting capabilities. Gen. Thompson attributes a lot of this forward momentum to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, Frank Calvelli, who was appointed to his position last year.

“He has brought us perspective and insight, and [has driven] a real change to how we look at space acquisition,” said Gen. Thompson. “[Calvelli is] focusing on simplifying, delivering, and meeting our promises in terms of the capabilities we deliver on time and on cost.”

Part of delivering those capabilities is the continuous development and deployment of a resilient space architecture, a key priority that Space Force leadership has been focusing on since the branch’s founding. Gen. Chilton asked Gen. Thompson about how the Space Force has been approaching the development of its architecture in a way that can withstand a possible “first-mover” strike by an adversary. Gen. Thompson explained that a proliferated architecture is where the answer resides.

“I would say distribution and proliferation in all of its elements,” said Gen. Thompson. “We certainly think about proliferated architectures in a very narrow sense, like having a large number of satellites in one orbital regime. [We must] distribute those capabilities across multiple regimes, which means that an adversary – if they’re going to attack you in space – has to have a very sophisticated and synchronized means of attack.”

Another approach that Gen. Thompson believes can eliminate strategic surprises from adversaries is to adopt a “new understanding” of space domain awareness. “[We must be] truly thinking more carefully about what it means to fully understand what’s happening in the domain, especially a direct-focused perspective on space domain awareness,” said Gen. Thompson. “As the human race continues to expand out into the solar system, the moon, and beyond, we believe our responsibility is to understand what’s happening in the domain.”

A critical component of being one step ahead of an adversary in the space domain, according to Gen. Thompson, is having a level of resiliency that will ensure that warfighters – across all services – can continue their operations in cases of degradation or denial in the space environment. “I’m not one who believes that degradation or denial of use of space will occur broadly and over a long period of time,” said Gen. Thompson. “But understanding where the reliance is, and how [the military services] might operate in that environment, is the first piece of it.”

This rapidly changing threat environment that Gen. Thompson describes is something that the industry has taken notice of and has been testing services and solutions specifically designed to promote military resiliency in the space domain.

As Gen. Thompson pointed out, there is currently a need among all military branches to have continued and uninterrupted delivery of space-based services, especially during adversarial attempts to degrade or deny space capabilities. For example, if an adversary were to successfully jam or degrade a satellite’s ability to provide connectivity to warfighters on the ground, it is imperative that the military be able to roll connectivity and services over to another satellite, in order to have uninterrupted and unaffected operations.

In March of this year, SES, Hughes, and ThinKom, came together to test space capabilities that could transform how the military strategically leverages SATCOM services. The three companies held a demonstration that effectively illustrated the ability of an end satellite user to seamlessly roam between satellite services originating in different orbits and leveraging different frequency bands. This verified capability speaks directly to the DoD’s need for the distribution of services across “multiple orbital regimes,” as Gen. Thompson described.

According to Ben Pigsley, SVP of Defense Networks at SES Space & Defense, “The military is facing near-peer adversaries that have demonstrated their ability to disrupt, deny, and degrade our communications networks. In today’s environment, government networks are both congested and contested with deliberate and directed jamming, cyberattacks, and kinetic attacks.”

When asked about SES Space & Defense’s successful multi-orbit testing and how the DoD could leverage those capabilities, he said, “Both multi-orbit and multi-band network solutions offer an elevated level of resiliency and increase availability to government customers. Higher availability is critical to the command-and-control networks operated by the DoD…The military’s industry partners are ready to support both multi-band and multi-orbit operations.”

Click the video below to watch the Spacepower Forum in its entirety.

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And these advancements do not stop at the air domain. According to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, Dr. John Plumb, China is gearing up and developing a wartime space architecture and is tirelessly working towards having the capability to deny U.S. offensive and defensive actions in orbit.

Dr. Plumb recently sat down with Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) during a special Mitchell Institute Schreiver Spacepower Forum, where he discussed China’s pacing threat in the space domain, our nation’s expanding awareness of the threats adversaries pose in space, and how commercial satellite solutions are advancing the military’s mission of deploying a resilient space architecture.

China as a pacing threat
Dr. Plumb made it crystal clear from the start that one of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) primary concerns is keeping pace with the threat China poses in the space domain. And though this adversarial threat is a top concern for the DoD, Dr. Plumb explained it has actually catalyzed a synergy within the Department which is allowing all agencies to push in the same direction as it pertains to protecting U.S. interests in space.

“Where we are now is that the entire government understands the value of space,” said Dr. Plumb. “And the Department and the [Intelligence Community] are really focused together on the threat, which kind of pulls people along.”

Dr. Plumb also pointed out that adversaries like China and Russia have had years to observe how the U.S. military relies heavily on space as a lever arm. And though this type of adversarial reconnaissance and information gathering is not new, Dr. Plumb says that the adversaries’ aggression and pace of technological advancement are new.

“China has really accelerated their space systems…And it’s a wartime architecture…We have to be able to detect and attribute hostile acts in space.” -Dr. John Plumb

“They’ve been working hard on it,” said Dr. Plumb. “We know [China and Russia] have direct-ascent ASAT missiles…and continue to find different ways to try to come after our systems. We have to be ready to defend against that. And I think we’re making some good strides there.”

He explained that to counteract the advances China and Russia are making in the space domain, the DoD must focus on the mission assurance of U.S. space systems. “The warfighter absolutely needs our space systems to be able to fight,” said Dr. Plumb. “So how do we assure those systems? We have two main lines of effort. One is resilience…And the second part is we have to be able to defend our systems against these counter-space threats.”

He then stated that China is currently developing a “wartime architecture.” “And they’re doing it in a much different way,” said Dr. Plumb.

Decades ago when the U.S. began construction on its space architecture, space was primarily viewed as a benign, neutral domain. According to Dr. Plumb, that is no longer the case in today’s environment.

“China has really accelerated their space systems with a massive number of satellites going up every year,” explained Dr. Plumb. “And it’s a wartime architecture…So when we talk about how we’re going to defend U.S. national security interests against both space and counter-space threats… we have to be able to detect and attribute hostile acts in space…You have to know what’s happening in your domain.”

Harnessing industry to produce resiliency
Dr. Plumb told a brief story about how 10 years ago the DoD briefed then-Vice President Biden on how the Department was working towards achieving a resilient architecture. Fast forward a decade later, when the DoD tells now-President Biden that they are working to create a resilient architecture, the President replies that he was told that 10 years ago and that the government “needs to get going.”

One viable solution to advance the mission of deploying a resilient space architecture, according to Dr. Plumb, is the commercial industry. “The explosion of available commercial services for space clearly increases resilience for some mission sets,” explained Dr. Plumb. “SATCOM is a perfect example. There’s a tremendous amount of SATCOM bandwidth available. We can buy that kind of bandwidth…Our resilience plan should include the ability to access different commercially available pieces when needed.”

What Dr. Plumb says is true. The latest next-generation SATCOM technologies emerging out of the commercial satellite industry have proven they can fulfill the DoD’s mission set of achieving resiliency in space. However, if COMSATCOM and MILSATCOM solutions are going to be leveraged in tandem as part of a joint satellite architecture, the military needs a way to see its entire network on a single pane of glass. It also needs the ability to easily and seamlessly move communications and workloads across a multi-band and multi-orbit satellite ecosystem.

“The ICT Portal will be a window that will enable visibility into the network’s capabilities, how it is built, and how it is operating. This will deliver complete resiliency to military networks, and support the DoD’s JADC2 initiative.” -Ram Rao, SES Space & Defense

Solutions like the SES Space & Defense (SESSD) ICT Portal, a recently-released capability that can enable military users to see their entire network – including both space and ground assets – on a single pane of glass, have demonstrated they can support the DoD’s mission of staying ahead of the adversary advances, while also denying their capabilities in the domain. And recent testing with satellite antenna and terminal providers have illustrated the ability to roam seamlessly across a multi-band, multi-orbit satellite architecture.

According to SESSD’s Director of Business Development Engineering, Ram Rao, “The ICT Portal will be a window that will enable visibility into the network’s capabilities, how it is built, and how it is operating,” said Rao. “This will deliver complete resiliency to military networks, and support the DoD’s JADC2 initiative.”

To watch Dr. John Plumb’s interview in full, click the video below:

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From being able to transmit decision-making intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data, to providing connectivity to warfighters in off-grid environments, the U.S. has countless, highly critical capabilities and solutions that solely depend on a well-defended and uninterrupted space architecture.

This sentiment was recently shared by Dr. Christopher Scolese, the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), at a Schriever Spacepower Forum.

“The world is changing,” said Dr. Scolese. “We need information faster, and we need to deliver it quicker.” He explained that space is no longer the uncontested domain that it once was. From cyber threats to adversarial anti-satellite mission tests (ASMT), space is quickly becoming the next, modern battlefield.

“We have even more denied areas,” said Dr. Scolese. “We previously have been operating in a more permissive environment. And that has now gone away.” Nevertheless, Dr. Scolese made it clear that his agency is committed to supplying rapid and timely ISR when it is needed, especially to the U.S. Space Force and the U.S. Space Command. “We’re going to find ways so that we can be efficient. We can make that happen very effectively.”

“Buy what we can”

One resource that Dr. Scolese views as a possible solution to NRO needs is the commercial space industry. “Buy what we can, build what we must,” he said. Dr. Scolese explained that the NRO is seeking to expand on its use of capabilities provided by industry. “We are looking for more commercial services,” he said. “What it comes down to is that the commercial market has really grown, and we’re seeing a lot of capability out there that commercial companies are providing.”

According to Dr. Scolese, one major benefit from his, “Buy what we can,” motto is the affordability factor. He explained that emerging commercial solutions are providing agencies like the NRO with an opportunity to acquire critical data “at a lower cost.”

He went on to say that the data the commercial industry provides gives the NRO the ability and advantage to share more information faster. “The warfighter may not need the exquisite imagery,” explained Dr. Scolese. “But they need to know what’s there. And commercial gives us that opportunity.”

Dr. Scolese isn’t the only high-ranking government official who sees the value in leveraging commercial space assets, solutions, and capabilities. Top leadership within U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) have recently been echoing a similar sentiment.

Last June, former NRO Deputy Director and current Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, Frank Calvelli, also explained how the, “Buy what we can,” mentality can benefit the U.S. military. “I also think that if commercial has a capability…you’re not going to get any faster than taking advantage of what you could just buy off the shelf as opposed to develop,” he said.

At another Spacepower Forum this past January, the U.S. Space Force’s Lt Gen B. Chance Saltzman also agreed that deploying off-the-shelf commercial capabilities would benefit the DoD.

“With the technology that’s being employed, I think we’re going to be able to leverage commercial capabilities to accomplish a subset of our missions,” explained Lt Gen Saltzman. “And as we distribute those up, not only does it free up resources for us, but it creates a more resilient architecture because of the number of different places and pathways where we can get the information we need.”

But the commercial satellite industry can do more than offer ISR data and imaging at a discount. Commercial satellite providers can also deliver communications and connectivity that can protect military networks from near-peer adversaries.

Creating resiliency

Having a resilient space architecture was another topic that Dr. Scolese touched upon at the forum. He explained the critical role a resilient space architecture would play for the defense of U.S. assets and capabilities in the domain.

“A resilient proliferated, architecture gives us faster revisit times and a more responsive system,” he explained. “So, it gives us greater capability. It gives us more options to deliver what is needed to whoever is needed…We’ll have more capability to deliver more flexibility among our systems to get the information that’s needed.”

The development and deployment of a resilient space architecture is another theme top military leadership have been discussing throughout the past year. Last February, Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations, Gen John W. “Jay” Raymond explained, “We have got to shift the space architecture from a handful of exquisite capabilities that are very hard to defend to a more robust, more resilient architecture by design.”

Much like the resources industry provides for ISR and warfighting capabilities, the commercial sector can also provide the required assets and solutions that would build out a hardened and resilient space architecture.

In a recent interview with the Government Satellite Report, SES Space and Defense’s Jon Bennett, Vice President, Government Affairs, Marketing and Corporate Communications discussed the important role commercial capabilities play in military space architectures.

“A benefit of leveraging commercial…is the security, resiliency, and redundancy it provides,” said Mr. Bennett. “When you’re able to complicate an enemy’s targeting calculus, that ensures that the built-in security features of your assets can mitigate threats at the highest level.” He went on to explain that if the U.S. doesn’t take advantage and leverage commercial solutions and capabilities, “we are certainly putting ourselves at an extreme disadvantage to our adversaries.”

Click the video below to watch Dr. Scolese’s interview in full:

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Before joining the Air Force, Mr. Calvelli’s three-decade career includes experience in national security, space acquisitions and operations, and leadership at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), where he served for eight years as the Principal Deputy Director. During the forum, Mr. Calvelli sat down with Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) to discuss his top priorities for space acquisition and the role the commercial sector will play in the military’s space operations moving forward.

Calvelli’s Five Priorities

To Mr. Calvelli, there is no higher priority than space. “Space is just an amazing enabler for the country,” he said. “It supports the nation’s economy. It supports our military. It supports all the services in the department.” With great enthusiasm, he said that being appointed assistant secretary is “an amazing opportunity,” and that he looks forward to fulfilling his commitment to help set the direction for space acquisitions.

As he begins his journey at the Air Force, expect Mr. Calvelli to draw upon his time at the NRO for inspiration in his new role. “My hope is to bring my experience from the NRO to the department, and to really help them out where I can in terms of space acquisition,” he said.

One part of Mr. Calvelli’s past experience that he will carry over to SAF/SQ includes five priorities that he devised during his time at NRO: speed, resiliency, architecture integration with other domains, project management discipline, and space and ground systems integration.

“It’s really important that space is always available to the nation, no matter what the environment is.” -Assistant Secretary Frank Calvelli

First, Mr. Calvelli emphasized the importance of advancing speed in space acquisitions. “And why is that important?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s going to allow us to modernize our service and allow us to stay technologically ahead of our adversaries. And if necessary, it’s going to allow us to deter, defend, or defeat any adversary.” According to Mr. Calvelli, in order to maintain that technological advantage, there has to be a real sense of urgency to get new capabilities into the hands of warfighters faster.

He also highlighted that the U.S. needs to bolster its space architectures by making them more resilient, a similar sentiment shared by Gen. John Raymond, Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) at recent Spacepower Forums.

Mr. Calvelli explained that a resilient space architecture is critical, because the military depends on space in both times of peace and conflict. “It’s really important that space is always available to the nation, no matter what the environment is,” he said.

Integrating space architectures into other warfighting domains is another priority that Mr. Calvelli plans to focus on in his new position. He explained that since space is a critical enabler of other domain capabilities, it is vital that the military has the ability to integrate space with land, air and sea, which will give all warfighters an advantage over adversarial threats.

“I also think that if commercial has a capability…you’re not going to get any faster than taking advantage of what you could just buy off the shelf as opposed to develop.” -Assistant Secretary Frank Calvelli

According to Mr. Calvelli, one piece of experience from the NRO that he plans on implementing at SAF/SQ is fostering a department culture that runs on project management discipline. “I think there’s no better way to actually get some speed than actually delivering on your commitments and actually execute your programs on cost and schedule,” he explained. “My fourth priority is to really drive project management discipline across the service.”

Mr. Calvelli went on to say that the department seems “to have a disconnect with space and ground systems.” For his fifth priority as assistant secretary, he wants to ensure that space and ground systems come together as an integrated system, “so that when we launch the systems, we can take full advantage of them.”

Executing Priorities by Leveraging Industry

When asked how Mr. Calvelli viewed the commercial sector’s role in delivering space capabilities to the U.S. Department of Defense, he responded by saying that industry can play a pivotal role in advancing the speed of acquisition.

“I think it’s an exciting time for the country, an exciting opportunity for anybody who’s involved with space programs, whether you’re in the Intelligence Community, the DoD, at NASA, or commercial,” said Mr. Calvelli. “I also think that if commercial has a capability…you’re not going to get any faster than taking advantage of what you could just buy off the shelf as opposed to develop.”

And indeed, the commercial space industry is currently booming with new technologies, capabilities, and solutions that could execute the promise of Mr. Calvelli’s SAF/SQ speed of acquisition priority, but it can also meet his other priorities, such as space architecture resiliency and ground/space system integration.

This is evident with SES’ newest geostationary (GEO) Ka-band satellite, SES-17, which recently became fully operational with readied capabilities to support multi-orbit resiliency for military space architectures. The technologies inherent in SES-17 can enable the military to seamlessly roll communications between MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM resources at GEO and Medium Earth orbit (MEO). This groundbreaking capability will provide resilient and hardened SATCOM defense against adversaries that try to deny or degrade mission-critical comms. It also allows flexibility if mission requirements were to change.

According to SES Space and Defense’s Vice President of Mobility and Integrated Solutions, Rashid Neighbors, “Ultimately, our intent is to provide the U.S. Government with highly resilient, multi-orbit hybrid satellite solutions. While the spacecraft technology in SES-17…is fundamentally different, the ground system will be integrated through…ARC. This allows our government customers to focus on their mission and applications and let SES Space and Defense worry about how the transport works.”

To learn more about SES-17, click HERE.

Click the video below to watch the Spacepower Forum in its entirety.

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SES-17’s coverage area makes it an important satellite for delivering mission-critical connectivity for the military. According to Amit Katti, Director of Systems Engineering at SES Space and Defense, “The satellite will…provide coverage…over the Americas, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean…[as well as] an area that is of incredible importance to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), delivering services to parts of the Arctic Circle.”

But there is more to SES-17 than its important coverage area.

The SES-17 satellite is a significant development in satellite technology, featuring a fully digital payload powered by the most powerful digital transponder processor in orbit, and nearly 200 user beams capable of delivering incredible throughputs and bandwidth to users. But the launch of SES-17 also illustrates how the commercial satellite industry has evolved its solutions to meet the unique challenges facing our modern military.

More resiliency and assuredness through multi-orbit communications
Today’s military no longer has the massive technological advantage that it used to hold in space. Our near-peer adversaries have made significant headways into the space domain and turned what was once a benign domain into an austere, warfighting domain. Some of our adversaries have even actively demonstrated the ability to leverage kinetic attacks against satellites in orbit in an effort to deny or degrade the satellite networks that have long given America’s warfighters an edge on the battlefield.

“Having a diversity of satellites allows for optimizing the best solution set while making the network more robust.” – Rick Lober, Hughes Defense

“Our ability to integrate space assets and our force capabilities at speed is a distinct advantage we have today. China and Russia recognize this and have designed means to deny us these capabilities,” explained General Curtis Michael “Mike” Scaparrotti, a retired United States Army four-star general who last served as the Commander of United States European Command, in a recent interview with the Government Satellite Report. “…we know they have developed abilities to deny operations for periods of time by electronic jamming or cyber-attacks, and that they have tested both terrestrial and space systems to destroy satellites.”

In this new environment, it’s increasingly essential that the military has the means and ability to rapidly and seamlessly transition mission-critical data from a satellite that is being denied to another that is capable of delivering essential communications.

Being able to seamlessly roll communications from a satellite in one orbit to another satellite in a different orbit can help to further complicate an adversary’s targeting calculus and make it even harder to deny or degrade our military’s communications. This is also essential should missions requirements change, and should the military need either the higher throughputs and lower latency of satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO), or the larger coverage area of satellites in GEO.

As Hughes Defense’s Rick Lober recently told the Government Satellite Report, “Having a diversity of satellites allows for optimizing the best solution set while making the network more robust.”

And this isn’t just an idea being pushed by the commercial satellite industry. It’s the current goal of the DoD. As U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, explained to attendees at a recent Mitchell Spacepower Forum, “We have got to shift the space architecture from a handful of exquisite capabilities that are very hard to defend to a more robust, more resilient architecture by design.”

But what does this need for a multi-orbit, resilient, and robust satellite network architecture have to do with SES-17?

“With a managed service model for satellite services, the government would always have the latest commercial technologies and solutions available to them. With systems like ARC in place, they’ll also have the added resiliency and capability of being able to leverage a multi-orbit constellation.” – Rashid Neighbors, SES Space and Defense

SES-17 is the first step in the integration of SES’s multi-orbit network. The spacecraft’s digital payload is supported by the Adaptive Resource Control (ARC) software, making it interoperable with SES’s second-generation O3b mPOWER satellite communications system in MEO, which is set to launch in the coming months.

The ARC software opens the door to more seamlessly transitioning satellite communications from the SES constellation of HTS satellites at GEO – including SES-17 – to the next-generation MEO satellite communications system, O3b mPOWER. This means that – should the bandwidth and latency requirements of the mission change, or in the unlikely event that a satellite service is denied by an adversary – SES could quickly and seamlessly switch between satellite services from GEO and MEO to meet the military’s requirement.

“Ultimately, our intent is to provide the U.S. Government with highly resilient, multi-orbit hybrid satellite solutions,” explained Rashid Neighbors, Vice President, Mobility and Integrated Solutions at SES Space and Defense. “While the spacecraft technology in SES-17 and the O3b mPOWER satellites is fundamentally different, the ground system will be integrated through…ARC. This allows our government customers to focus on their mission and applications and let SES Space and Defense worry about how the transport works.”

SES-17, and its support of the ARC system, make the dream of an integrated, multi-orbit satellite network architecture a reality. But it also enables another important shift – allowing the military to evolve away from the archaic and inefficient way that it has traditionally acquired satellite commercial satellite capacity.

A satellite “built for managed services”
In this new satellite reality, where multi-orbit commercial satellite services join military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) resources to build an integrated architecture, the traditional method of leasing satellite capacity on the spot market is no longer effective.

In this new reality – where military communications may need to be moved from a MILSATCOM satellite in GEO to commercial satellite service from MEO or LEO at a moment’s notice to meet mission requirements or provide mission assurance – the traditional methods of leasing satellite capacity are simply too slow.

The ARC system, and other technologies that make SES-17 more “software-enabled,” have ushered in a new generation of satellite that is, as Katti coined, “Built for managed services.” Meaning that the military and government can acquire satellite communications as a service from commercial providers, who, in turn, deliver an end-to-end solution when and where the military requires it.

“Our ability to integrate space assets and our force capabilities at speed is a distinct advantage we have today. China and Russia recognize this and have designed means to deny us these capabilities.” – General Scaparrotti, U.S. Army

Acquiring commercial satellite as a managed service ensures that the government and military are always leveraging the latest satellite technologies, and always have the requisite hardware and terrestrial infrastructure necessary to utilize it.

“With a managed service model for satellite services, the government would always have the latest commercial technologies and solutions available to them,” explained Neighbors. “With systems like ARC in place, they’ll also have the added resiliency and capability of being able to leverage a multi-orbit constellation.”

While the news of SES-17 becoming fully operational is certainly exciting, it’s not nearly as exciting as what SES-17 and other future satellites signify for our government and military. SES-17, the O3b mPOWER service, and other next-generation satellite solutions illustrate a clear solution to the challenge of a more austere space domain. They also signify a path forward towards a more integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM satellite architecture that will be more assured, robust, and resilient to meet the needs of our future force.

To learn more about SES-17, click HERE.

Featured image courtesy of Thales Alenia Space.

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Last month at a special Schriever Spacepower Forum, Congressman Jim Cooper, U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 5^th congressional district, sat down with Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) to discuss the growing adversarial threat in space, how the U.S. needs to reestablish its deterrence capability in the domain, as well as the role commercial industry should play in the process.

U.S. Space Force as a deterrent force

To open the forum, Gen. Chilton asked Rep. Cooper about his thoughts on the Biden administration’s release of its U.S. space priorities framework and if he agreed with its positioning of the U.S. Space Force as a “support force” rather than a “deterrence and warfighting force.”

According to Rep. Cooper, he is on the side of deterrence. He stated that the U.S. should be able to have warfighting capabilities to defend its assets in space, while simultaneously projecting a strong deterrent presence that would prevent U.S. adversaries from making aggressive moves in the domain.

“Just few years ago, we’d let our deterrence capability in space go almost to zero,” said Rep. Cooper. “Which is pretty sad.” In his eyes, the space domain is the ultimate “infrastructure of infrastructure,” which the U.S. must be prepared to secure and defend.

He went on to explain that the country’s near-peer rivals have not delayed their technological innovations in the space arena. In areas where the U.S. military has been languishing, U.S. adversaries have made strides in their advancements. “We largely squandered that advantage,” said Rep. Cooper. “We’ve got a lot of catch-up work to do to reestablish deterrence.”

Reestablishing space dominance and deterrence

Rep. Cooper pointed to the ever-shrinking number of American STEM graduates as one of the main contributing factors to the country’s authoritative decline in space. “We gave up on much of big science,” he said. “Without a technological lead, our nation is doomed.”

He did acknowledge that there are signs that STEM is making a comeback in the workforce, and has hope that will give the nation a boost in reestablishing its technological lead. “We’re still head-and-shoulders above other militaries,” said Rep. Cooper. “But we’ve got to make sure that we’re always challenging ourselves to be the best. And sometimes I worry that we get distracted, or we rest on our laurels.”

As for the actual domain itself, one area that he believes could be a starting point to projecting a deterrent dominance in space is by rethinking the assets and satellites that the U.S. puts in in-orbit, explaining that they have to be more survivable and durable, and must have extremely robust capabilities.

“We got to do whatever it takes to have a severe capability,” said Rep. Cooper. “And that includes not only extraordinary defense, but also an offensive capability.”

Commercial sector can bridge the technological gap

Rep. Cooper noted that because threats in space are becoming more ubiquitous, the U.S. needs to prioritize the protection and security of its in-orbit critical systems. “We got to have a resilient, survivable architecture that can meet all our needs,” he explained.

He expressed concern around the speed of acquisition within the government and military, as well as emphasizing his concerns on the “quality” of acquisition. “We need to think about what really works, and what really can give us that 10-to-20-year leap…that our Pentagon needs to really meet and beat any other threat and establish deterrence.”

Rep. Cooper applauded the innovative technologies that are coming out of the commercial sector and expressed how he wishes that the U.S. government would match that level of innovation. “The first step is for the military to catch up with the private sector, because so much of the innovation has come from innovative small companies.”

“It’s incredible innovation that’s currently underway,” he said. “It’s innovation that we could currently be using with our Space Force and Air Force and other branches of the military.”

This sentiment of leveraging the commercial sector in order to advance the capabilities and solutions that are being employed by the U.S. military has lately been echoed by top military officials at the Pentagon.

Last January, the U.S. Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, spoke at a Mitchell Spacepower Forum where he emphasized the importance of establishing resiliency throughout critical systems in space and how the commercial sector has to play a role in making it happen.

“We have got to shift the space architecture from a handful of exquisite capabilities that are very hard to defend to a more robust, more resilient architecture by design,” said Gen. Raymond.

“But it’s not just about innovation. Integrating COMSATCOM services into an integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM satellite architecture will have the added bonus of baking resiliency into the military’s networks.”

At another forum held last November, the U.S. Space Force’s Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman also agreed that the satellite architecture currently in space is unprepared for combat capability and capacity, and he pointed to the commercial industry as a major player in not only providing the technologies, but also creating a resilient space architecture for the U.S. military.

“With the technology that’s being employed, I think we’re going to be able to leverage commercial capabilities to accomplish a subset of our missions,” explained Lt. Gen Saltzman. “And as we distribute those up, not only does it free up resources for us, but it creates a more resilient architecture because of the number of different places and pathways where we can get the information we need.”

It’s clear that the U.S. military needs to begin to source these commercial technologies as soon as possible in order to regain dominance in the space domain, as well as play a deterrent role against aggressive near-peer competitors. As Rep. Cooper put it, “We need the capability now. We needed it yesterday. And I’m worried that we’re not there yet.”

Click the video below to watch the Spacepower Forum in its entirety.

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So far, Space Force has stood up its headquarters, become the 18^th member of the Intelligence Community, established three field commands, and has brought on more than 13,000 personnel. These achievements are only a few of the bullet points on the long list of Space Force wins since its inception in late-2019.

One person who has stood witness to all of the branch’s successes, setbacks, and growing pains – since the very beginning – is U.S. Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond. Earlier this month, Gen. Raymond joined the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence for a special Schriever Spacepower Forum moderated by Gen. (Ret.) Kevin P. Chilton. During their discussion, Gen. Raymond reflected on the Space Force’s journey thus far and discussed the service’s year-three priorities, which will include a heavy focus on building and implementing a resilient space architecture.

Two years down

Gen. Raymond opened the forum by expressing that – to him – the first two years of Space Force operations have flown by. From major organizational milestones to force design deployments, he is extremely proud of all the branch has accomplished in just two years.

“If you look at the body of work that has been done, it’s pretty incredible,” said Gen. Raymond. “I would have flunked the test if you had told me at the two-year mark we’d have gotten all of this done.”

Notable achievements that he highlighted included the design and operation of Space Force headquarters, as well as standing up the branch’s field commands—Space Operations Command, Space Systems Command, and the Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM).

Developing a new capability program was also a priority during Space Force’s first two years. “One of the big discussion points, when we were looking to establish a separate service, was how do you build capability at speed,” explained Gen. Raymond. “How do you get warfighting capabilities in the hands of our operators at tactically relevant timelines?”

“One thing is for certain, if the resilient satellite architecture that Gen. Raymond envisions is to be a reality, the Space Force…is going to need to embrace a network that combines both MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM resources.”

During the past two years, Gen. Raymond learned that the acquisition component of providing warfighting capabilities is just a part of a much bigger process. He explained that in order to effectively and efficiently provide capabilities at speed, the approach must include force design, requirements, acquisition, and testing.

On the force design, requirements, and acquisition fronts, Gen. Raymond expressed that he feels very comfortable with where the Space Force currently stands. He did admit that Space Force’s testing program was not robust – initially – but he happily shared that the service now has a testing program that will fully mature in 2022. “So on the capability development front, I couldn’t be more thrilled with where we are,” said Gen. Raymond.

Gen. Raymond also gave an update on the growth of Space Force’s international partnerships. He shared that he is extremely pleased with how the branch has largely transformed its partnerships from being one-way data sharing to being two-way, operationally-focused data sharing.

He went on to say that Space Force and U.S. allies are now exercising and wargaming together, as well as collaborating to develop tactics, techniques, and procedures that link their operational centers together. Through these partnerships, the service is now in a position to develop new capabilities that will be provided to the warfighter. “I really believe we have an opportunity to bring our international partners and commercial industry more into the fold…going forward,” said Gen. Raymond.

One of the more intriguing updates that Gen. Raymond shared concerned the first budget that the Space Force drafted and submitted on its own. “I think once that budget is released, you’ll see a very bold budget as it relates to space and being able to shift to a more resilient architecture.”

Resiliency a top priority

As for what’s in store for Space Force’s third year of operation, Gen. Raymond believes that, “year three is going to be even more consequential than year two.” One reason why he thinks 2022 will be pivotal is due to the fact that Space Force plans to fully migrate to a resilient space architecture this year.

“We have got to shift the space architecture from a handful of exquisite capabilities that are very hard to defend to a more robust, more resilient architecture by design,” said Gen. Raymond. And according to the General, resiliency is the key factor to deterring U.S. adversaries from denying Space Force capabilities and benefits.

“People ask me all the time about deterrence,” said Gen. Raymond. “We very firmly believe that space can amplify those deterrence messages.” He explained that ensuring the resiliency and readiness of U.S. assets in space would make it extremely difficult for an adversary to deny Space Force’s access to its capabilities and advantages.

“But it’s not just about innovation. Integrating COMSATCOM services into an integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM satellite architecture will have the added bonus of baking resiliency into the military’s networks.”

“We will begin our pivot significantly to a resilient architecture this next year,” said Gen. Raymond. “I will tell you, our first priority is a resilient priority. That’s been the majority of our focus for this year.”

One thing is for certain, if the resilient satellite architecture that Gen. Raymond envisions is to be a reality, the Space Force – and broader Department of Defense (DoD) – is going to need to embrace a network that combines both MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM resources.

An integrated architecture is the key to resiliency

It’s understandable why the military is so laser-focused on resiliency for their networks and satellite communications. Satellite has long been a tactical advantage that our military has over our adversaries, and that tactical advantage only grows as satellite – and the technology it enables – becomes increasingly mission-critical at the tip of the spear.

For years, the DoD’s trusted industry partners in the space and satellite sector have been pushing for the military to move away from purchasing, launching, and managing purpose-built military communications satellites. They’ve been, instead, encouraging the military to leverage commercial capacity to meet its communications requirements – and with good reason.

The commercial space and satellite industries are the innovation leaders in that domain. By embracing commercial satellite capacity for its mission-critical communications requirements, the military is gaining access to the innovative and cutting-edge technologies in which the commercial satellite industry has been investing heavily over the past few decades.

“We will begin our pivot significantly to a resilient architecture this next year. I will tell you, our first priority is a resilient priority. That’s been the majority of our focus for this year.” – Gen. Raymond

But it’s not just about innovation. Integrating COMSATCOM services into an integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM satellite architecture will have the added bonus of baking resiliency into the military’s networks.

There are more than 150 commercial satellites orbiting the Earth in MEO and GEO. By utilizing commercial partners to meet communications requirements, the military can both bake redundancy into their satellite networks, and make it more difficult for adversaries to target satellites for jamming and kinetic attacks.

In a recent interview with the Government Satellite Report, Hughes Defense’s Rick Lober emphasized how commercial satellite capabilities can be game-changers for ensuring resilient military communications and mission assurance.

“Only by being able to switch seamlessly from satellite to satellite can the user be assured of uninterrupted communications,” said Lober. “Being able to switch between satellites in different orbit planes provides greater network resiliency and gives commanders more options to enhance their APACE communications. Having a diversity of satellites allows for optimizing the best solution set while making the network more robust.”

Amit Katti, Principal Engineer at SES Space and Defense, echoed Lober’s sentiment in a recent interview about SES Space and Defense’s new Common Operational Picture platform, Hydra. “If an adversary denies a satellite – either disables it with a kinetic attack or jams its signal – having the ability to manage and control the network to send traffic around that satellite – either to other available military satellites or commercial satellites – could be the difference between having comms and not having comms.”

Click the video below to watch the Schriever Spacepower Forum in its entirety.

Featured image: A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a GPS III-5 satellite into orbit launches from LC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., June 17, 2021. (Photo by: Airman 1st Class Samuel Becker)

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