Leveraging commercial satellite systems for future military applications

There has been an increased recognition in the military that the commercial space industry is rapidly maturing and is approaching the point where industry will outspend the military in the conduct of space activities. The commercial space industry is on the verge of bringing forth new capabilities in space with enhanced military potential. Among these new capabilities are bandwidth on demand and mobile communication services, one-meter commercial remote sensing imagery, and reusable launch services. This paper reports on the commercial activities supported by The Aerospace Corporation at the request of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC).