Jane Edwards
Rory Welch, vice president of engineering and service delivery at Intelsat General, has said the U.S. government should work to leverage insights from the commercial space industry in an effort to facilitate innovation and keep the country’s edge in the national security space domain.
Welch wrote in a blog post published Tuesday that the U.S. government’s slow acquisition process and the growth of counter space and space force systems from Russia, China and other countries are the two trends that pose a threat to the country’s leadership position in the space arena.
He called on the Defense Department to look at the commercial space sector’s efforts to innovate and “tap into commercial investments in innovative space, ground, and cyber capabilities to boost the diversity and proliferation of its national security space enterprise†as well as meet the resiliency and capability goals of its Space Enterprise Vision.
DoD should work to implement procurement methods to advance innovation in its space platforms and capabilities through the adoption of Small Business Innovation Research programs, Pathfinder initiatives and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, Welch added.
