Outer space

Defense contractors see growth in space

With the Trump administration making a big push to create a Space Force and recent moves by the Pentagon to stand up a Space Development Agency and a U.S. Space Command, some companies in the defense industry are positioning themselves to compete for a share of the U.S. military’s $14 billion space budget.

“We are expanding into the space domain,” said Damian DiPippa, general manager of mission intelligence solutions at ManTech International, a $2 billion defense contractor that provides technical support services to the military and intelligence agencies.

ManTech is looking to apply its cybersecurity expertise to space. Satellites and supporting ground systems used by DoD and the intelligence community for communications and other critical missions have become enemy targets, DiPippa said in an interview. “Protecting these assets and the critical intelligence they carry is a top priority.”

The company rarely advertises what it does. In a departure, ManTech will be at the Space Symposium this week actively marketing its analysis and modeling work focused on “space resiliency,” DiPippa said. “This includes space, ground and all the links in between.”

Resiliency in space means the ability to continue to operate and provide services while under attack. DiPippa said ManTech sees a demand for detailed analysis using modeling and simulation to design a resilient architecture. DoD will want to model strategies to respond if its spacecraft are disabled or destroyed by rapidly launching a cluster of small satellites, for example.