Pentagon looks to the space industrial base as coronavirus pandemic increases pressure on supply chain
WASHINGTON – Space acquisition officials in the Pentagon soon will meet to discuss emergency measures to help the space industrial base, as the coronavirus pandemic threatens military and commercial satellite ambitions. Air Force Magazine reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
28 April 2020 -- Key players from the Department of the Air Force, the Space Development Agency, Missile Defense Agency, and others are coming together to decide how best to leverage the Defense Production Act’s support and economic stimulus funding to shore up their overlapping mission interests.
They believe a united front could prove more successful when asking other parts of the government for help than if one agency were going it alone. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic comes as the space market is picking up speed, throwing a wrench into what is seen as a new golden age for space dominance and exploration.
Pentagon officials are particularly concerned about emerging markets like small launch, as well as satellites and payloads for low Earth orbit, where the public and private sectors have grand plans for thousands of satellites that would bolster mass communication and defense missions on Earth.
Related: How military harvests technology from commercial industry
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
