/sci/ - Science & Math

DoD developing strategy to tap commercial space market
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https://spacenews.com/dod-developing-strategy-to-tap-commercial-space-market/
> WASHINGTON — Seeking to capitalize on commercial space capabilities, the Pentagon’s space policy office is crafting a strategy to harness emerging technologies for national security purposes. An area of particular interest is in-space logistics services such as satellite refueling.
> “It’s an exciting time for innovation in space and there’s major opportunities for the department to leverage, like the rapid production and technology refresh rates that the commercial sector can provide,” said Plumb.
>“Our goal is to improve the department’s ability to integrate commercial capabilities to ultimately enhance U.S. national security,” he said.
> “Especially in the geostationary belt, fuel is often the limiting factor for the life of a satellite,” said Plumb. “So having the ability to refuel would really open new possibilities. So it’s great to see commercial companies already working on that problem.”
> “In many sectors the commercial industry actually has the best technology. But we haven’t adapted our processes to keep pace with the commercial technology. We’ve established a culture of risk aversion,” McHenry said at the PSC conference.
> He said DIU expects to get bigger budgets in the coming years and plans to invest in space projects that integrate commercial technologies.
> Some of the space projects DIU is now focused on include a “hybrid space architecture” to connect commercial and government satellites in a mesh network in space.
>Space logistics and refueling are also areas “that I’m pretty excited about,” he said.