Our recent coverage of commercial space has included DoD efforts to leverage the commercial space internet as “future military operations will be multi-domain and will be conducted with unprecedented speed.”  Experimental DoD efforts are focused on building a “robust systems architecture ecosystem with the growth of exponential technologies like AI in mind”, which will be crucial to leveraging space-based commercial internet capabilities. The Defense Intelligence Agency also recently updated the Challenges to Security in Space 2022. In light of the cyber attacks on the Ukrainian satellite system (which figured prominently in the early stages of the Ukraine conflict) we also highlighted Space Security and Offensive and Defensive Counterspace Capabilities.   

Clearly, space continues to be an active, contested space, with a hybrid of governmental and commercial activities already in play.  We now turn to NASA, Chinese and commercial development efforts – and the future role of laser satellite links in the space communications infrastructure.