The space industry has experienced major changes in recent years: more federal contractors play the field, the U.S. is diverting NASA funds from space exploration to private-public partnerships, and the administration established the U.S. Space Force. Given these developments, 2020 sits poised to be a watershed year with rapid innovation in 5G and 6G, advances in private satellite technology and increased demand for global high-speed connectivity.
The expanding low Earth orbit, or LEO, access for new satellite communications players signals an opportunity for growth—and for the democratization and commercialization of space. With this in mind, federal agencies are adopting private-sector advancements that will impact the future of communications.
Federal Investments in Space
Satellites are just as cyber-vulnerable as any other technology, but the current focus on profitability, launch providers and mega-constellations are putting cybersecurity low on the priority list. Instead, it should be integrated across the value chain from conceptualization and development to launch and operation. After all, we’ve seen how poor cyber readiness can negatively impact even the most prepared government agencies and corporations.
While NASA is most commonly associated with space operations, eight U.S. federal organizations have space budgets, including the Defense and Energy departments, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey and others. These agencies use satellites in a variety of ways: think telecommunications in globally dispersed workforces, up-to-the-minute information on natural disasters or armed conflicts, research on population growth and density, awareness of weather patterns and more. Satellites provide a global, wide-lens perspective that can be invaluable to the government.
The Emergence of LEO
LEO satellites provide agencies with additional advantages because they move at a quicker rate and have lower latency due to their location in orbit, wh ..
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