In any race, timing is key. Our focus on 2026 is not an end point but a critical near-term goal for several reasons:
- It keeps us ahead of the Peoples Republic of China, our number one pacing challenger.
- It aligns with an evolving geopolitical landscape in the Pacific.
- It directly addresses emerging threats from adversaries that are developing capabilities that could disrupt our operations in space.
What does a resilient space architecture look like?
- It spans the entire structure, from on-orbit constellations to ground stations, networks, data systems and mission critical support facilities.
- It is cybersecure.
- It is proliferated and redundant.
- It employs diversified orbits.
- It integrates commercial capabilities.
- It has the ability to reconstitute quickly as and when needed.
Why we Exploit, Buy, Build
SSC’s exploit, buy, build model is a significant departure from tradition and recognizes we no longer have the luxury of time to develop and deliver essential systems to protect our nation’s strategic advantage in space.
Exploit what we have leverages current space architecture in new and creative ways to push more, or even new, capability from existing assets – and doing so as quickly as possible to support the warfighter and the nation in case those systems are needed in a “fight tonight” scenario. Our inaugural Fight Tonight Competition is just one way in which SSC is accelerating the pace of innovation and delivering new capabilities faster.
Buy what we can focuses on rapid capability that already exists in the commercial space and adjacent industries that can be dual-purposed or adapted into our current warfighting architecture. This includes technologies and services.
Partnering with commercial industry allows us to cast a wider innovation net, including non-traditional partners and cutting-edge start-ups. It also gives us speed. SSC’s Victus Nox mission exemplifies how these kinds of partnerships are helping us deliver capabilities in two- to three-year sprints versus the much longer timeframes of our predecessors.
Commercial collaboration also lowers cost and reduces non-recurring engineering, which allows for more off-the-shelf solutions that enable faster response when augmentation or replacement is needed.
Build only what we must acknowledges that some mission areas are not yet mature enough to buy or adapt “off the shelf.” It also recognizes that there will be stringent security or warfighter requirements that demand exquisite systems.