Outer space

Smallsats promoted as “insurance” for national security space systems

Advocates of small satellites argue that such systems could offer a much-need “layer of resiliency” for national security space applications for as little as one percent of current spending on such programs.

At a June 21 discussion about small satellites at the Center for Strategic and International Studies here, developers of launch systems for small satellites in particular argued for increased investment in smallsat technologies that could provide an insurance policy of sorts for larger military satellites in the event of a conflict.

The current architecture of military space systems “was really built in an uncontested environment,” said Steve Nixon, vice president for strategic development at Stratolaunch. “It’s no longer resilient to threats and probably cannot operate through a contested military environment.”

Advances in small satellite technology, he said, offered a solution to this problem. “What we’re proposing is adding a layer to our architecture of small satellites that duplicate the functions of what the rest of the architecture is doing,” he said. That layer, he said, could deter attacks in the first place, as well as provide a surge capability in the event of a crisis.