The space defence dilemma: Commercial vs. dedicated military systems
A Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in 2023 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites. (Photo: US Space Force/Joshua Conti)
During a recent space defence event in London, discussions turned to militaries’ growing dependence on commercial satellite systems and how it has fostered an environment for operating space assets that is becoming ever more hostile.
Out of all war fighting domains, space is the only one where militaries frequently rely on commercial assets, according to Michael O’Callaghan, head of future programmes at Airbus Defence and Space UK.
The point he focused on during the Defence in Space conference held in London earlier this month was whether these systems – commercial communication satellite constellations such as SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Kuiper or Earth-observing fleets run by Planet or Maxar Technologies – are robust enough to “be there and available when we truly need them”.
The question whether countries can afford using less hardened commercial satellite services in
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