Theresa Hitchens is the Senior reporter, Space at Breaking Defense. The former Defense News editor was a senior research associate at the University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM). Before that, she spent six years in Geneva, Switzerland as director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
A sci-fi geek, voracious reader, enthusiastic cook, dabbler in poetry, Theresa is also the proud mom of a wonderful young man by the name of Nicholas.
Speaking with Breaking Defense and Defense One on Tuesday, SPACECOM head Gen. Jim Dickinson noted the importance of space "governance," including "norms of responsible behavior," and the "need to better preserve" the space environment.
SpRCO head Kelly Hammett told Breaking Defense in an interview that the "operational integration" process involves "tens of force generation elements with POAMS [plans of action and milestones] that take years to close everything out."
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
"We are a ground software service provider," ATLAS Space co-founder Mike Carey told Breaking Defense. "We've come up with a very modern, cloud-based, scalable secure platform by which any number of antennas can be brought in."
"We have an issue, as everyone here knows, with China where they're just simply not sharing information. And we cannot safely operate in space if a major space participant isn't actively engaged and sharing information in a way that enhances safety for all," said Commerce's Richard DalBello.
The Commerce Department doesn't simply want to replicate what DoD does now in providing space situational awareness data to industry, but go beyond to provide "a technologically superior product," said Richard DalBello, head of DoC's Commercial Space Office.
The new rules framework is due to Vice President Kamala Harris by March 7, said National Space Council Director of Commercial Policy Diane Howard.
As threats rapidly evolve, digital engineering, manufacturing capacity and robust supply chains are critical to meeting challenges.
"We need to address space debris so that space is sustainable and remains a working environment," Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, assistant director for space policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), said today.
"We need to integrate and exploit non-traditional commercial data," said Space Force Delta 2 Commander Col. Mark Brock. "There has been a push against this to a certain extent within our own enterprise, and I've been pushing back on that. We need our commercial partners."
"We have spent a lot of time admiring the problem of how to be responsive in space," SSC head Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein said. "We are done admiring the problem and we are getting after the combatant commands' need to truly protect and defend the peaceful use of space."
“Since the 2019 award of an integration study contract for commercial RF, we’ve seen increasing demand for this data source from across the user community,” said Chris Scolese, director of the NRO.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
"We believe that space needs to be in a more sustainable state — that spaceflight safety is critical to connecting the world and making sure that we continue to have space as a portal of progress and knowledge. And that's at risk today," said Slingshot Aerospace co-founder Melanie Stricklan.
"It’s a new and encouraging step in the right direction in terms of space domain awareness and a welcome collaboration within the industry," said Denis Bensousan, of London-based insurance firm Beazley.
Traditionally, DoD and the Intelligence Community — as well as some US allies — have been leery about revealing the position of US national security satellites, because they wish to conceal their activities and characteristics.
An audit by the DoD Inspector General found that while federal law "allows for one of 4 conditions for a prototype OT award," Pentagon rules contain "no requirement to validate that the contractor met those conditions," an OIG spokesperson told Breaking Defense.