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.
“This strategy will outline the department’s priorities and approach as it relates to integrating commercial capabilities into DoD’s architecture,” said John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy.
DoD’s commercial space integration strategy is “for the whole department,” and is a separate effort from the one being developed by the U.S. Space Force, Plumb said at the Professional Services Council’s 2023 Defense Conference.
“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.
Plumb highlighted space mobility and logistics as one area of particular interest to DoD. “The department has no on-orbit services to refuel satellites,” he said.
U.S. Space Command leaders called the lack of refueling options a weakness for military satellites that perform very limited maneuvers to conserve fuel. On-orbit servicing capabilities like refueling would help the U.S. compete with China and Russia as they field more nimble satellites.
“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.”
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