Navigating

space
A vision for space in defense

August 2021

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Foreword
The space domain is becoming
more congested and contested.
New technologies are rapidly emerging.
Barriers to entry are falling. New players
– both governmental and commercial
– are vying for advantage. At the same
time, humanity’s reliance on space
activity is becoming more ingrained every
day. Once supreme in the space domain,
the defense sector is being forced
to reassess the role they play in this
increasingly critical domain.
NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 3

To better understand how the Ultimately, this paper finds that –

domain and the ecosystem are while the domain is evolving at a
evolving, KPMG International and rapid pace with rising competition
the Space Foundation teamed up and potential for risk – the path
to talk to nearly two dozen industry to sustainable space operations
and defense leaders at the highest and human habitation lies in Grant McDonald
levels of the space domain. We connection and cooperation. As Global Head of Aerospace
asked them about their views, such, we hope this paper serves to & Defense
opinions and predictions on the inform the ongoing development KPMG International
future of the domain over the short, of the space domain and acts
medium and long term. And we as a catalyst for diplomacy and
gathered their perspectives on key collaboration in the field.
sector challenges such as security,
capability and competition. On behalf of KPMG International
and the Space Foundation, we
Using their perspectives as would like to thank the national and
guideposts, this paper offers global leaders who contributed their Jacob Hacker
key predictions on how the time, insights and predictions to this Global Space Industry Co-lead
sector may evolve, identifying paper. To learn more about how the KPMG Australia
important new capabilities, predictions raised here might impact
commercial opportunities, your organization, we encourage you
partnership initiatives and to contact your local KPMG firm or
sovereignty considerations any of the contacts listed at the end
along the way. We also provide of this paper.
a number of considerations and
recommendations to help defense
and industry players ensure the Thomas Dorame
long-term sustainability and safety Senior Vice President
of operations in space. Space Foundation

Megan Wenrich
Manager, DC Operations
Space Foundation

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Throughout this document, “we”, “us” and “our” refers to KPMG and Space Foundation.
NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 4

Into the
constellation
Since the dawn of space exploration,
the military has been on point. The
first satellites were funded by defense
departments. The first astronauts were
air force and navy personnel. Many of
the technologies now driving space
exploration were born in government
labs and research facilities.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 5

From the very beginning, the potential Non-governmental organizations are crowding
into the domain – most notably led by commercial
for conflict has been clear. It started
ventures such as SpaceX. And that is changing the
with the ‘space race’ between the focus for many military players. Whereas in the past,
US and the Soviet Union. government spending tended to focus on things like
new earth observation, space situational awareness
(SSA) and satellite communication capabilities, these
Since then, space assets have been directly involved
are increasingly being offered commercially, as ‘off
in theaters of war – ground stations were attacked
the shelf’ solutions.
during the 1991 Gulf War and in the 2011 conflict in
Libya. A number of countries have developed direct It is not surprising, therefore, that space has
ascent, kinetic capabilities (even though the become an increasingly important domain for
impact on Earth’s orbits are now well understood). defense and national security operations. As one
The jamming of SatCom and GPS networks has of our interviewees aptly stated, the space domain
been reported in numerous regions and theaters is becoming more contested and more congested.
of conflict. Defense departments have long viewed Between 2019 and 2020 the number of spacecraft
space as a key domain of warfare. launched per year more than doubled, with
expectations there will likely be 100,000 satellites
Now, however, the hegemony of a handful of military
in orbit by the end of the decade. And, with more
departments over the space domain is being eroded.
countries and companies now joining the ranks of the
A growing number of countries are realigning their
space-faring, the focus on the domain and the role
defense organizations to recognize the importance
played by the defense sector is growing.
of space. The US has, perhaps, been the most public
with the creation of the Space Force. But many As many of our defense and industry interviewees
others – including Australia, Canada, China, France, noted, we have entered into a period where the
India, Japan, Russia and the UK – are also busy rules of the road must be defined if society would
establishing space commands in order to develop like to ensure the longevity of human habitation
domestic capabilities and enable foreign partnerships and operation in space. Achieving broad consensus
with likeminded nations. around global norms of behavior and policy will likely
be critical to humanity’s ability to achieve benefits
At the same time, there is growing recognition of
from the space domain. And it is more important
the value that investment into space capabilities can
than ever to help stakeholders as they aim to ensure
provide to the military, governments and humanity
humanity’s safety in space and on Earth.
more broadly. Indeed, humanity increasingly views
space as a domain of opportunity and inspiration
– in orbit and on the planet surface. Many of the
capabilities now being developed for space can
deliver broad benefits to civilians (things like assured
communications, the protection of space assets,
manufacturing in space, space tugs, laser and optical
communication, and others as yet unimagined).

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 6

Against this background, we offer the

following four key predictions on the
likely future of defense in space.

1. Space will define the future

of national security
2. The pace of innovation
will continue to quicken
3. Partnerships will be crucial
to long-term success
4. Alignment on norms will
unlock advancement.

In the following chapters, we will

explore each of these predictions in
more detail, supported by actionable
recommendations and practical advice.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 7

Prediction Space will become the dominant

domain for national security
Space sustainability will become
a top national security issue.

1 by 2030. Defense forces around

the world are already developing
On the one hand, it is clear that
there is mounting concern about
specific organizations focused the growing density of debris and
on the space domain. Some, like traffic now circulating in space,
Space Australia, Canada, China, France, particularly in low earth orbit. At the

will define India, Japan, Russia, the UK and

the US have significant programs.
same time, countries are seeing
space-based assets start to play

the future But other countries are also

starting to stake a claim to the
an increasingly important role in
supporting sustainability efforts on

of national domain – African countries, for

example, placed 41 satellites into
Earth. As markets and societies
become more dependent on space
security orbit in 2019 alone, while Middle
Eastern nations have national
assets (not just for sustainability
efforts, but also a range of needs
strategic priorities in the domain, such as financial transactions,
including the launch of Mars bound location services, and so on), the
missions. Many of our interviewees need to ensure the sustainability
believe the path to acceptance will and proper management of the
be short; it took almost 70 years for space environment may increasingly
the air force to be fully integrated be seen as a national security issue.
into most joint forces – most seem
to expect the integration of the
space domain to be much faster.
We have to behave as a global
community to think about
sustainability in space and
In the long term, I believe space concerns such as debris. If you
is going to become the most get too much debris up there,
vital domain for national security, you’re not going to be able to
surpassing air, land and sea. I commercialize things like space
think that we will see an increase hotels. So the international
to the human presence in space, community and international
and eventually there will be people law needs to come together
living on other planets as we do in many ways.
today on the International Space
Station. A heightened need to Rick Ambrose
Executive Vice President,
secure the domain will follow that
Lockheed Martin Space
increase in human activity beyond
our planet. Additionally, space
will become more critical as an
economic hub. In the long-term,
the level of wealth generated in the
space domain will be significant.

Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond

Chief of Space Operations,
US Space Force

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 8

Prediction Data and AI capabilities will be

fundamental to future success.
While significant investment has
already been made into the field,

2 The ability to manage massive

amounts of data and integrate
the reality is that satellites and
spacecraft are inherently vulnerable
new technologies such as Artificial to cyber-attacks, jamming/spoofing
Intelligence and Machine Learning and physical attacks. At the
The pace of is rapidly becoming a key capability same time, concerns about the

innovation for successful space ventures, both

governmental and commercial.
resilience of technology in space
is leading some to move away

will continue Access to publicly-available

intelligence sources is expanding
from ‘exquisite’ large satellite
configurations and towards

to quicken rapidly with commercial players

now offering a range of Earth
diversified constellations, thereby
creating additional redundancy and
Observation data in near real-time. resilience in the network. Expect
In fact, some of our interviewees capabilities to evolve quickly.
expect public sources of intelligence
data to rival classified sources within
the next few years. As it does, a
new landscape of Open Source Government must find ways
Intelligence may emerge. to leverage these commercial
capabilities on time scales that
are relevant – not only to the
defense missions and users being
Information as a service is served, but also matched to the
becoming more commoditized. pace of commercial innovation.
And key milestones – like achieving Our model centers on an ability to
geointelligence singularity from put up a higher quantity of lower
Earth Observation – will be enabled cost satellites on faster timelines
through the use of AI and mobile – building resiliency across an
technologies that could allow architecture. This pipeline creates
almost anyone to pull down data frequent opportunities for technology
with their phone, showing any insertion and experimentation, and
point on this planet at any time enables us to focus on what can be
in almost any type of resolution. done with this new commercial data
That has important implications and analysis -- delivering knowledge
for the national security side. and mission impact.

Steve Isakowitz Kari Bingen

President and CEO, Chief Strategy Officer,
The Aerospace Corporation HawkEye 360

Cyber security and resilience New capabilities will emerge

capabilities will evolve rapidly. and scale. Given the rapid pace
As governments start to integrate the of technology development in
space domain into their defense and all spheres of the economy, it is
social networks, much greater focus not surprising that many of our
will likely be placed on protecting interviewees predict that new –
space-based and lunar assets. currently unfamiliar – capabilities

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 9

and technologies may emerge.

Expectations are high for
breakthrough innovation in Having that mix of defense-owned
areas such as proximity operations and commercially-delivered
(life extension technologies for services adds to the resilience
refueling vehicles, for example) and the robustness of our
and space manufacturing. Yet what capability. A very complex and
is noteworthy is not that new diverse web of both military
unimagined technologies will likely and civilian contracts is much
emerge, but rather the pace at harder to attack than one single
which they will be adopted, scaled piece of equipment that holds all
and commercialized. Proactive of your capabilities.
efforts to help ensure new emerging
technologies are secure will be key. Air Commodore Phil Gordon
Director General Air Defence
and Space,
Royal Australian Air Force

I think we’re going to see the Agility and speed will define
cislunar space become increasingly capability development in the
interesting and regularly populated. future. Traditional approaches to
We’re really focused on new
And there will start to be the defense capability development and
models for our space capability
foundations of real space logistics – procurement are not fast enough or
acquisition. We want more agile,
things like tugs, propellant structures flexible enough to keep up with the
slimmer processes that help
and other technologies that may not pace of innovation and development
companies engage with us without
exist today. in today’s space domain. SpaceX
all the legacy red tape. That being
reportedly builds 6 or 7 StarLink
Mandy Vaughn said, it’s easy to say you want to
satellites every day. Many launch
CEO, GXO Inc and former CEO, ‘fail faster’, but in practice this
new capabilities every three
VOX Space LLC can prove challenging as we are
months. As such, defense leaders
spending public money – the trick
Commercial companies will play are rethinking how they might
will be to implement acquisition
an invaluable role. Already, we are develop new procurement and
processes that are more agile,
seeing a plethora of new commercial development capabilities that would
whilst retaining an acceptable
ventures focused on supporting and help them work with a broader
amount of oversight.
defining capabilities and mission range of smaller providers. Expect
architecture, particularly in the fields to see more Initiatives like the US’s
Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth
of Space Situational Awareness Space Development Agency and the CB, OBE, DFC, Director Space,
(SSA) and Earth Observation. UK’s Space Pitch Day in the future. UK Ministry of Defence
In fact, a number of companies
already boast commercial capabilities
that are highly competitive when
viewed against those of many
defense functions. With this data
now being offered ‘as a service’
from commercial players, defense
advantage may increasingly come
down to who has the best analytical
tools to derive useful intelligence
from the data.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 10

Prediction
3
Partnerships will be critical
to long-term success
Existing partnerships will Newer markets to the domain
strengthen and expand. will focus on specific strengths.
Recognizing the value of With more than 100 countries
partnership and collaboration in now boasting satellite programs,
space activities, development there are greater opportunities
and investment, we are seeing for collaboration on defense-
significant efforts to expand specific capabilities. Working with
existing partnerships and alliances. established leaders, the UAE,
NATO, for example, is establishing for example, went from having
a space center to enable better no space program to launching a
coordination around space mission to Mars in just 6 years.
communications and intelligence. That being said, our interviews
The US-led Combined Space suggest that smaller and emerging
Operations Center (CSpOC) aims to market players may find more
improve collaboration between the success in focusing on a smaller
US, Australia, Canada and the UK, number of strengths that can
with support from France, Germany deliver a longer economic and
and New Zealand. In most cases, technological impact.
particular focus is being placed on
encouraging collaboration between
allies and commercial and civil
operations including the use of From a geopolitical, physical and
dual use satellite partnerships with capabilities perspective, Thailand is
civilian and defense payloads. well positioned to lead Southeast
Asia in areas like Space Situational
Awareness and Space Traffic
Management. We are now looking
Many NATO members already at capacity-building through training
have their own space domain and knowledge transfer to help us
capabilities. And it is clear that operate in space activities.
those national entities are here to
stay. What we can do is help them Thagoon Kirdkao
Chief of SSA/STM Education
enhance their collaboration, share
and Network, Advisor to the
ideas and work together. Subcommittee of SSA/STM
Thailand, previously Director of
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Heren Space Affairs Division,
US Space Force,NATO Joint Air Royal Thai Air Force
Power Competence Centre

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 11

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 12

Prediction Norms will support the

development of new
The scope of anti-collaborative
agreements will be reduced.

4 capabilities. Transparent and open

communication from military actors
As space organizations and
governments seek to encourage
in space will be key to avoiding greater collaboration, we expect

Alignment
conflict. Yet there is growing to see existing limitations (such
criticism that the traditional as ongoing export restrictions on

on norms international forums for agreeing

space norms and treaties (the UN
space-specific hardware or barriers
that slow the sharing of classified

will unlock Committee on the Peaceful Uses of

Outer Space and the International
data between allied nations) start
to fall away. In many cases, this

advancement Conference on Disarmament, for

example) are now too slow to meet
may require policymakers and
administrators to start to reduce
the rapidly evolving realities of the (or find ways to work around)
space domain. While there are collaboration-limiting policies
differing views on whether industry and regulations. The Technology
or government should lead these Safeguard Agreement in place
initiatives, there is growing support between the US, New Zealand and
for these issues to be managed at the UK is a strong example of allies
a higher level in the future (perhaps overcoming regulation to drive
at the UN General Assembly level collaboration. At the same time,
or between industry bodies). we expect the influence of other
regulation – such as the US Wolf
Amendment – to gradually reduce,
enabling greater collaboration with
We have an opportunity now to non-traditional partners.
build new norms for space actors;
how they act and what rules they
play by. I believe the development
of these norms will be a reason for Moving forward, I believe we
celebration, because it will enable need someone to provide guard-
a future of utilizing the orbital rails that ensure freedom of
environment in an effective and action. The problem is that space
safe manner for the benefit of all, issues are often overclassified.
not limiting the utilization which But if we want to properly
will inevitably happen if we do highlight what irresponsible
not institute responsible norms of behavior looks like, we will need
behavior and accountability. to have these conversations in
unclassified forums.
Charity Weeden
Vice President, Global Space Victoria Samson
Policy and Government Relations, Washington Office Director,
Astroscale Secure World Foundation

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 13

Organization structure,
workforce and training will be
reimagined. Defense organizations
need to evolve from ‘industrial
age’ organizations into ‘information
age’ ecosystems. And that means
capabilities and decision-making
frameworks need to change.
As social expectations shift and
governments redefine the meaning
of ‘defense’ in a digital era, it is
expected to see a range of new
challenges and potential points of
conflict and partnership to emerge.
And each can manifest differently,
impacting different players
and sectors. To efficiently and
effectively evaluate and address
these rapidly-emerging issues,
therefore, the space domain needs
a framework of norms, policy and
doctrine that is flexible enough and
robust enough to meet a range of
potential situations.

Our defense departments and

our defense businesses are really
still set up for the industrial age.
They were set up for the Navy,
Air Force and Army. But we have
transitioned into the information
age – cyberspace, space, electronic
warfare, information operations.
Conflicts in cyberspace are over
in seconds. It begs the question,
is our infrastructure of
bureaucracies set up to handle
that type of conflict?

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Heren

US Space Force,
NATO Joint Air Power
Competence Centre

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 14
014

Key takeaways for defense:

Actively work towards Get the policy right Look for dual-purpose
consensus and in the short term. opportunities.
collaboration. Historic players may want to Work with national space
While focusing on existing focus on encouraging iteration; agencies and others to develop
forums and on new capabilities emerging players may want to local industry and emerging
(such as proximity operations), identify areas where they can capabilities. In particular, look for
look for higher-level platforms lead and they are willing to dual-purpose opportunities (there
that may lead to more impactful share. Create demand signals is little difference between the
and timely results. Consider for industry up front so they sensors for monitoring carbon
reducing classifications can invest accordingly. levels and those for missile
and integrating unclassified detection, for example).
intelligence data from
commercial sources.

Leverage industry Elevate space as a Look for new

capabilities and defense domain. partnership
capacity. Fully integrate space as part opportunities.
Adjust the risk appetite and of the joint forces in order to Expand existing partnerships
encourage ‘fast failure’ in order to ensure they are interconnected and explore opportunities to
enable faster iteration and reduce and interoperable in the future. work with more international
time to development by using Like other domains, space partners where possible. Start
industry capability and capacity. requires unique capabilities with areas where there is clear
Consider seconding defense that cannot easily be repurposed alignment of objectives – Space
personnel into primes and from other branches of defense Traffic Management, for example
‘NewSpace’ companies in order or government. – and build from there.
to encourage best practices and
two-way learning. Also leverage
civilian R&D capabilities including
university partnerships.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 15

Key takeaways for the public sector:

Encourage rapid Facilitate and Encourage cooperation

procurement. incentivize innovation. through treaties
Redesign procurement models Remember that government and regulation.
across government and defense investments are key to growing Avoid unnecessary regulation
to accelerate requirements the space industry. Consider how and siloed thinking. Look for
development through to these can be expanded beyond new treaties and agreements
contracting. Be prepared to grant programs into contracted that will support international
adapt your risk appetite and products and programs and collaboration, such as the
‘pick winners’. government ventures to provide ‘Technology Safeguards
early capital and accelerate Agreement’ model between
technology development. the US and a number
Leverage cooperative research and of allied partners.
development by providing facility
access to emerging companies for
testing and guidance.

Modernize civil Invest in the Coordinate on Space

legislation to prepare future workforce. Traffic Management.
for new capabilities. Identify and assess the national With the space domain
Prepare for the development skills and capabilities required increasingly dominated by
of new space capabilities by for success in the space domain. commercial spacecraft,
reviewing existing and related Consider how local, national and the need for defining policy
civil laws in areas such as privacy regional policies could be adapted on managing space traffic
(improved resolution), spectrum to encourage skills inflow. and collaborating and
licensing (mega constellations), Encourage relevant coordinating internationally
national and cyber security. skills development from is essential to avoid collisions
Collaborate internationally secondary schools through to and manage spectrum.
to align future policy. entry into the workforce.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 16

Key takeaways for industry:

Rapid iteration is Expand your value Build local teams

key to success. proposition. to drive innovation.
Explore opportunities to Consider how dual-purpose New space companies, new
rapidly cycle capabilities technologies can help broaden markets and even adjacent
(both hardware and software) the business case and increase industry sectors have a lot of
in spacecraft development awareness and understanding ideas and value to offer within
and operations. Leverage of the benefits of the space the space domain. Use local
industry standards to improve on sector across a wider range of teams to identify emerging
innovations achieved by others. government stakeholders. Think capabilities in AI, advanced
Consider diversified architectures about how your solution can help materials and manufacturing
as a route to risk mitigation. solve broader policy objectives. that can be leveraged in the
space domain.

Take the lead on Build the ecosystem Bridge the ‘user-

sustainability and and value chain. provider divide’.
transparency. If you are a large company, Avoid developing technology in
From requirements development consider how you can serve as a search of a solution and focus
and design through to ‘mentor’ to emerging ventures. on the practical needs of your
decommissioning and de- Support them in obtaining customers. Deeply understand
orbiting, consider how your clearances (often a significant your clients’ needs. Leverage
organization can contribute to barrier to new companies). Help forums like Space Works, the
space sustainability. Similar grow these companies into SBIR and the Defense Innovation
to the move to renewables future ecosystem partners. Unit to build your network.
on Earth, industry has an
opportunity to take the lead.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 17

Voices
Leaders of Space in Defense
KPMG International and the Space Foundation teamed up
to talk to nearly two dozen industry and defense leaders at
the highest levels of the space domain.
We asked them about their views, opinions and predictions on
the future of the domain over the short, medium and long term.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 18

O N PA RT N E R S H I P S
The space domain is inherently global– it has the ability
to unite global partners like no other domain. That is
why we are putting partnerships front and center.

Space has historically not been as highly valued as

other domains from a national security perspective
because it was largely seen as being benign. As space
becomes more contested and congested, the need for
partnerships with our international allied partners, our
inter-agency partners and our commercial partners has
increased significantly.

Within the Space Force, we have made great strides

in strengthening and expanding our partnerships. In a
General John W. “Jay” Raymond
Chief of Space Operations, very short time, we have gone from having virtually no
US Space Force partnerships in the national security space to creating a
vibrant ecosystem of partners and allies. We are already
seeing the benefits of those collaborations today.

When the Department of Defense re-established US

Space Command, the focus centered on creating
combined C2 (command and control) centers where
allied partners and US personnel worked hand-in-hand
– operating together, training together, wargaming
together and exercising together. In supporting this
effort, the Space Force has evolved its partnerships
with allies to include building capabilities together, and
doing so at reduced cost and increased speed.

In the mid-term, I believe that our partnerships

are going to start paying even larger dividends as
our collective capabilities grow and we continue
developing capabilities together.

Indeed, I firmly believe that our best opportunity to

address those challenges we face in the near-term,
mid-term and long-term as a domain lies in our ability
to develop strong and robust partnerships.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 19

O N M U LT I L AT E R A L C O O P E R AT I O N
Where people go, conflict inevitably follows.
The problem is that the multilateral forums that
have been created to handle this topic aren’t
making any progress.

We are seeing initiatives like the Artemis Accords,

but that doesn’t include the Chinese or the
Russians. And the commercial sector has been
pretty proactive on this with initiatives like the
Space Safety Coalition which was put together by
outside operators to formalize how they are going
to operate safely in space.

Where I see the most hope for multilateral

Victoria Samson
Washington Office Director, agreement right now is in Resolution 75/36 at
Secure World Foundation the UN General Assembly, put forward by the
UK at the end of last year. It hopes to find some
consensus on what member states determine
to be a threat in space security and stability, to
determine what constitutes responsible behavior,
and then how we move forward. My hope is
that this effort will re-frame the conversation
somewhat and allow us to accelerate progress.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 20

ON LEVERAGING
C O M M E R C I A L CA PA B I L I T I ES
There is a massive amount that Defense Space can
learn from the commercial sector, and there are
definitely capabilities in the commercial sector that
Defense could leverage.

In many cases, there’s really no need for me to

do the R&D, build the kit and get it launched;
somebody else is already doing it. In fact, as we
properly examine Defense’s requirements, we
are finding that a high percentage of them can
be satisfied by simply accessing the commercial
market. There is one slight problem though – if I can
Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth buy it, so can everyone else. So whilst this approach
CB, OBE, DFC, Director Space, presents opportunity, it could also pose threat.
UK Ministry of Defence
There are lots of considerations that go into those
decisions and you need to properly understand
what you need to own, and what you don’t need
to own. Some capabilities might be important to
you to own as a strategic deterrent, for example.
There are others you might want to move into the
ecosystem in order to encourage the development
of your own sovereign space sector. There are lots
of facets to the debate.

Ultimately, however, I believe the decision comes

down to your ability to maintain the operational
edge. That’s where you need to really focus your
sovereign capability.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 21

ON DEVELOPING
N E W CA PA B I L I T I ES
Our ambition at the French Space Command is
really to maintain our freedom of access and our
activity in, from and to space.

That means we need to be in a position where we

can respond to any threats to our space capabilities
– not only the military capabilities, but also those
capabilities that are strategic to our interests and
those of our partners.

It’s not an ambition you can accomplish in a year

or two. It’s a 10-year timeframe. And right now, we
Major General Michel Friedling are working to rapidly develop space surveillance
Commander, capabilities and, perhaps most importantly, the
French Space Command capability to protect and defend our space interests.

For example, we recently launched a project called

YODA which is a demonstrator for RPO (rendezvous
and proximity operations) and space surveillance in
GEO orbit. The concept involves putting satellites
into GEO orbit to essentially patrol the orbit and
report back on what is going on there. Eventually,
it will also be able to neutralize those threats if
necessary. It’s just a demonstrator for now.
But we intend to have full capacity by 2030.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 22

ON DEVELOPING SKILLS
A N D CA PA B I L I T I ES
New Zealand is a fairly new player in the space
domain. If you look at the NZ specific environment,
just looking at the search and rescue region we
are responsible for supporting, it literally goes
from the equator to the south pole, so you can
see the challenge. So part of our focus is really
on upskilling people around the opportunities,
risks and considerations in the fast-moving space
technology sector.

At this stage, there are two categories of people

development that requires our focus. One is the
Air Vice Marshal Andrew Clark specialist knowledge sets, around those people
Chief of Air Force, who are going to be the people we reach for
Royal New Zealand Air Force
as specialists who understand the domain. The
second is one where we are going to have to
grow a basic level of appreciation among as many
people as possible to understand the broad risks
and opportunities around the space domain.

Simply put, we need a small set of space

specialists, and a large cadre of space-savvy
professionals within the wider defense force.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 23

O N I N T E G R AT I N G S P A C E I N T O
THE DEFENCE DOMAIN
In a modern defense force, I don’t think any domain
or any mission can be neatly segregated and put
under the command of only one individual. The
days of owning everything you need to do your job
are largely over. Everyone’s mission is going to be
enabled by everyone else. So I think it’s about being
clear about the accountabilities, responsibilities and
authorities and assigning resources, generating
expertise, and achieving a critical mass so that the
people that are responsible for our outcomes can
drive those outcomes – without having to own every
part of the value chain.
Air Commodore Phil Gordon
Director General Air Defence and Space, And that’s where I think the real sophistication of our
Royal Australian Air Force future approach will be. Not by ensuring there is one
Australian space organization that owns everything
related to space. But rather by ensuring we have
unambiguous leadership with the authorities and
levers in place to take a forward thinking enterprise
view so we can effectively coordinate, shape
the behaviour, drive the standards, influence the
integration and help set the priorities, such that it
all comes together in a way that adds value to the
Australian Defence Force (ADF).

That, of course, leads to some challenging questions.

Where does military or defense responsibility
end? How far do we go into national security? Are
we just focused on military operations or are we
focused on all of defense? Are we responsible for
safeguarding continued access for commercial and
other government capabilities in space, should they be
threatened? We haven’t landed on an answer to those
yet. But it is a journey we have started.

Having that mix of defense-owned and commercially-

delivered services adds to the resilience and the
robustness of our capability. A very complex and diverse
web of both military and civilian contracts is much harder
to attack than one single piece of equipment that holds
all of your capabilities.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 24

ON BUILDING
THE ECOSYSTEM
It’s going to take a lot of trust and collaboration
to accelerate innovation in the space domain.
Defense organizations like Space Force will need
to create a North Star vision that makes funds
available by mission area, not by program of
record. The big primes need to be mentoring the
smaller companies, bringing them in as part of
their infrastructure and helping them navigate the
system. The little guys need to be finding those
pockets of good customer interactions – areas like
the SBIR and space works are often good
entry points.
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Heren
We really need to be Sherpas for those companies US Space Force,
NATO Joint Air Power Competence Centre
– whether it is through organizations like GXO,
through the primes or through groups like the
Defense Innovation Unit – we need to be actively
encouraging these pockets of innovation and
helping them join the ecosystem. ON DEVELOPING NORMS
FO R S PAC E
There’s a lot of interest in finding and establishing
international norms for the space domain. But how
those actually get fleshed out will be interesting. Who
signs off on them? What are people willing to sign off
on and what aren’t they willing to sign off on?

I think the issue now within NATO and the 5Eyes

is that there is an increasingly uneven playing field
between members. Some nations like the US
are really reliant on their own indigenous space
capabilities, while other nations are using capabilities
that are commercially available or being shared. The
uneven playing field means it is difficult to forecast
how this is all going to net out.

Mandy Vaughn
CEO, GXO Inc and former CEO,
VOX Space LLC

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 25

O N T H E I M P O R TA N C E
OF SPECTRUM
There is increasing discussion on the need for
space infrastructure to become more standardized
and modeled more like open architectures where
you can plug in and add the intelligence. We are
likely to see a lot more software defined payloads.
Now, there are laws of physics involved which
will not allow you to just shift through all bands
with an efficient architecture, but how you use the
capacities will be an enabler. I think the one big
gating item that might stand in the way, however, is
the spectrum. It’s a finite resource. So whoever is in
a good spectrum position and can maintain that will
Steve Isakowitz likely have an upper hand in terms of creating value.
President and CEO,
The Aerospace Corporation

ON THE NEED
F O R S TA N D A R D S
One of the big challenges in space today is that
when someone builds something, it is often
so unique that they are the only operators with
that capability. But that makes it very difficult for
potential partners to onramp and offer up new
innovations and ideas. In the future, I expect we
will be building in orbit – putting things together,
repairing them, moving them around and refueling
them, all while in orbit. That will require a certain
level of interchangeability going forward.

If you imagine a world where we are sending

humans to Mars, the most important commodity Amit Somani
will likely be fuel. If we can develop fuel depots Chief Strategy Officer,
that allow any rocket with the right docking adapter Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat)
to come up and fuel at the depots, we can open
the market up to commercial and international
participation. That’s the kind of advances that are
starting to take shape. But they require a much
greater level of modularity and standards.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 26

Thagoon Kirdkao
Chief of SSA/STM Education and Network, Advisor to
the Subcommittee of SSA/STM Thailand, previously
Director of Space Affairs Division,
Royal Thai Air Force

O N D R I V I N G M I L I TA R Y A N D
CIVILIAN CONNECTIVITY
The relationship between civilian and military space
activities is key, particularly as we try to share
capabilities and experiences between the two.

Our National Space Board is Chaired by our Deputy

Prime Minister and it includes not just military but
also civilian viewpoints. And that board is in charge
of ensuring connectivity and links to capabilities
between different sectors in Thailand.

At this stage, the Ministry of Defense is mainly

focused on the policy level and the strategic level,
while the Space Operations Center is focused on
the operational level. But I am confident that is
evolving as we mature in our capabilities.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 27

ON THE NEED FOR

DEFENSE ACTIVITY
I expect the presence of human beings in the
space domain will start to grow exponentially.
And I believe we will quickly start to see more and
more businesses and people working in space –
bringing new benefits to Earth and increasing the
dependence that people have on space.

That’s going to be a big challenge for the defense

sector – how to make things safer, how to protect
national interests, how to protect the systems,
and so on.

Dr. Yasuhito Fukushima

Senior Research Fellow,
National Institute of Defense Studies, Japan

ON SIMMERING
S P A C E W A R FA R E
Space warfare – in the broad sense – is already
happening. We’ve seen attacks on ground
segments and link segments of space systems.
And while there have not been any confirmed
reports of attacks on the space segment – the
satellites themselves – it is not mere conjecture to
think that an attack could occur there at any time.
Not just the destruction of a satellite, but there
are other methods of attack such as laser and
microwave, electromagnetic pulse and capture and
orbital changes. There are countries that already
Major General José Vagner Vital possess these capabilities.
Executive Vice President,
Brazilian Air Force

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 28

O N T H E N E E D F O R A N AT I V E
S PAC E P R O G R A M
We are seeing more and more markets re-thinking
the question of whether they need satellites when
they can buy the pictures commercially?

The increasing answer is that a sovereign satellite

provides the optimal independent solution for
flexible use during any geopolitical situation
without third party considerations.

At the same time, a lot of countries want to

build a space industry for two main reasons – it
encourages the industry to develop high-tech and
Shlomi Sudri high-end capabilities and it drives more young
Vice President and General-Manager, people to STEM academic studies which brings
Space Division, Israel Aerospace Industries economic benefits.

Moreover, the fact remains that people like

satellites, space and rockets. It’s very exciting.

IAI is supporting the Israeli space ecosystem to

obtain new capabilities and with academia to ensure
the right skill sets are available.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 29

O N G E T T I N G VA L U E F R O M
THECOMMERCIAL SECTOR
The commercial space ecosystem is rapidly
changing. And many defense organizations are
challenged in understanding how to maximize the
value and contribution to mission that they can get
from the commercial sector.

What is clear is that the relationship between

government and private sector has changed. The
commercial sector no longer needs the government
to serve as an ‘anchor tenant’ for the development
of new capabilities. There is tremendous private
capital being invested into new space ventures.
Kari Bingen As an example, our company – HawkEye 360 – is
Chief Strategy Officer, planning to have up to 10 privately-funded satellite
HawkEye 360, and former US Deputy
clusters (of 3 satellites per cluster) on orbit over
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
and Security the next two years, introducing a new commercial
radiofrequency (RF) data layer and analytics for the
government to leverage.

There is a cost avoidance benefit to the

government, but in order to shape these
investments, the government must signal its
demand and demonstrate a willingness to purchase
commercial data and services. It should emphasize
experimentation and exercises—leveraging different
data distribution pathways, new models for tasking,
and novel ways to better integrate government and
commercial data.

It must also find ways to leverage these commercial

capabilities on time scales that are relevant – not
only to the defense missions and users being
served, but also matched to the pace of commercial
innovation. Our model centers on an ability to put up
a higher quantity of lower cost satellites on faster
timelines – building resiliency across an architecture.
This pipeline creates frequent opportunities for
technology insertion and experimentation, and
enables us to focus on what can be done with this
new commercial data and analysis -- delivering
knowledge and mission impact.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 30

O N P R O C U R I N G I N N O VAT I O N
Procurement and innovation cycle times are out
of synch. China demonstrated they could disable
satellites in 2007, however it wasn’t until 2015
that the US launched the third offset strategy
focused on new technologies and innovation,
resulting in what is now NSDC [National Space
Defense Center].

Part of the problem is that it takes about 5 years

Rick Ambrose to move from a request to Congress for funding
Executive Vice President, through to an operational program. But Moore’s
Lockheed Martin Space
Law suggests that innovation will have cycled
two to four times while that funding was moving
through the system. So now you have earmarked
money that needs to be spent on something that
may not exist anymore.
O N I N N O VAT I O N
People innovate, not organizations. And one can get
just as much innovation from a big company as you
can from a small company. The difference is that small
companies focused on niche areas can often be highly
innovative and take on more risk since the consequences
of failure is much smaller. Big companies tend to face
bigger risks – often in the form of penalties or customer
consequences – which means they innovate differently.

That’s why we play in both dimensions. We’ve got robust

R&D investments on our own side. And we have venture
funds that invest in startup companies with a technology
at a risk point that we could accelerate into our
customers. It’s this convergence of innovation between
large companies and small companies that, we believe,
will really power this domain forward.

Given this rate of continuous innovation, I believe we

need to move away from building fit-for-purpose solutions
Paul Graziani
and instead move towards capabilities that are able to CEO and Co-Founder,
rapidly change or upgrade. Our partners are increasingly Analytical Graphics Inc (AGI)
going to need architecture that enables mission
flexibility over time. So we need to be designing systems
that can flex, expand, grow and evolve over time.
That means it needs to be more connected, more
agile and more adaptable.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 31

Bill Gattle
President,Space Systems, L3 Harris Technologies Inc.

ON KEY ENABLERS
A N D I N N O VAT I O N
Currently, there is a focus on what the key enablers
are going to be for operating in the domain in the
future and I see two key thrusts. To start with, we
need a ubiquitous network to provide zero latency
connection. We then need a proliferated sensing
network for space situational awareness. This will
enable us to protect and defend high value assets,
by knowing what is around them and with the
tracking of hyper-flight vehicles. Ultimately, these
two focus areas are going to enable a proliferated
system well beyond LEO and GEO. The one thing
we must get right in the near term though, is a
standardized infrastructure that everyone can
play with and interconnect through, just like the
terrestrial cellular network.

Defense are increasingly bringing mission issues

to industry to solve, to find the fastest, cheapest
and most effective solution. Industry are coming up
with very different and unique solutions to these
problems which is also driving more innovation in
the domain. Getting the standards right will enable
this to all come together.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 32

ON THE MEANING OF SECURITY

A N D T H E N E E D F O R S T R AT E G Y
People often refer to big ’S ‘ Security as that relating
to National Defense and Security, but we’ve seen
most notably that Security comes in many forms:
Energy Security, Food Security, Water Security,
Transportation Security, Health Security and
Climate Security. All of these will compound the
challenges that nation states will face individually
and collectively and space, given its vantage and
persistence, will contribute to more precise alerting,
awareness, planning and preparedness and the best
responses to manage and mitigate. Increasingly, all
security domains will merge and with this the need
Rick Pitre to ensure not only cohesion in the way space-based
Brigadier-General (Retired),
systems will operate, but their continuity in being
Former Director General Space, RCAF,
Special Advisor Space, able to do so. The traditional threats and actors have
Aerospace Industries Association of Canada evolved and so too will nations in the ways they
perceive and act to address them.

We need a clear and unequivocal space strategy

that is underpinned by policy that is equally clear
and enables us to develop plans that are prioritized,
resourced and responsive to both the planned
needs and unplanned circumstances we will face.
Governments are no longer seen only as customers,
but as providers and enablers for innovation and
investment purposes.

Competition in space is intensifying. Countries who

have been strong players in the past are upping
their game as new players also emerge with equal
ambition and plans to access and claim their piece
of the global marketplace. If Canada is to remain
competitive in space, it too must adapt in a more
deliberate and concerted way with an overarching
aerospace strategy that includes a clear and visible
plan for space for decades to come. Every other
aerospace nation has a national strategy to position
their industries for recovery and growth, and to
seize their share of the multi-trillion-dollar emerging
aerospace-cleantech market.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 33

ON CONGESTION
If left unchecked, Space congestion – which is a
problem today and will be a bigger problem
in the future – is particularly concerning for
defense organizations.

We have an opportunity now to build new norms for

space actors; how they act and what rules they play
by. I believe the development of these norms will
be a reason for celebration, because it will enable
a future of utilizing the orbital environment in an
effective and safe manner for the benefit of all, not
limiting the utilization which will inevitably happen
if we do not institute responsible norms of behavior
and accountability. Charity Weeden
Vice President,
Space Congestion is not just limited to debris. Global Space Policy and Government
We’re operating a space environment where there’s Relations, Astroscale

a lot of traffic, access to space is opening up and

launch costs are falling. That means congestion
is going to increase. And there are so many
different actors – traditional space players, industry,
universities and even NGOs

The challenge is that this is not the same type of

congestion we understood just one generation ago.
Now we are seeing activities that don’t necessarily
follow your predictable Keplerian orbit. Satellites and
missions are maneuvering more and performing
various new missions for different space actors. So
on top of space congestion, it’s also getting harder
to characterize and predict actions in space. That’s
a huge challenge when you have active defense
operations working in that environment.

The question is, how long does it take to build up

these new norms.

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NAVIGATING SPACE A VISION FOR SPACE IN DEFENSE 34

ON CONGESTION
Collaboration with our allies and with industry
is essential to protecting our interests in space
and ensuring freedom of action by creating new
capabilities, sharing data and intelligence and
executing coalition operations.

These partnerships are critical to bringing focus to

the issues that are unique to the space domain,
particularly space asset protection. So much of
the innovation we’re working on with government,
with commercial companies is around asset
protection, resiliency and multi-domain operations.
These partnerships are going to continue to grow,
Debra Facktor particularly where there is opportunity to improve
Head of U.S. Space Systems for integration and increase system interoperability
Airbus U.S. Space & Defense Inc. with our allies.

O N AWA R E N ES S
The pandemic made everyone – commercial,
civilian and military – realize how much we rely
on space for information and data. But while
we recognize how critical these assets are to
our entire global ecosystem – everything from
financial data to weather, communications and
sensing – there is a growing realization of just
how fragile our space assets are. If I think about
our position on Earth today, climate change is a
civil space focus, however there’s not a universal
responsibility for the well-being of our planet. I
see an increasing impact from climate change
on National security and as a result a split role
between defense and civil space to gather
information and provide the space tools and
technologies to manage it. Roy Azevedo
President,
Raytheon Intelligence & Space

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Acknowledgements
Nancy Barrett
Emma Cleary
Louise Davidson
Steve Eisenhart
Erez Henig
Keith Kaetzel
Avtar Jalif
Sofia Lanfranconi
Brittany Lovett
David McCourt
Susumu Miyahara
Catherine O’Malley
Neil Rae
Karin Rorke
Peter Schram
Jodi Slattery
Contact us
Grant McDonald
Global Head of Aerospace & Defense
KPMG International
+12464343900
[email protected]

Jacob Hacker Jonathon Gill Thomas Dorame

KPMG Australia KPMG UK Space Foundation
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[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Mike Kalms Omer Tauqir Megan Wenrich

KPMG Australia KPMG Saudi Arabia Space Foundation
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[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Jim Adams Grant Riley Hanh Le

KPMG US KPMG New Zealand Space Foundation
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[email protected]
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