Posted on 11/26/2017 6:10:37 PM PST by BenLurkin
The military space business is stuck in its old ways and missing a "golden opportunity" to capture the energy of a rejuvenated commercial industry, said a former White House space and aviation technology adviser who is now a top official at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
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Kennedy's..words ... were met with skepticism from executives in the audience who argued that DARPA often funds the development of technologies that already are available in the private sector, creating government vs. industry competitions that undermine private efforts.
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Executives in the audience pointed out that the Defense Department has not moved to capitalize on the small satellite revolution or "hosted payloads" as alternatives to custom-built military spacecraft....
Rather than deploy hundreds of sensors in tiny satellites that are cheaper to replace, the Pentagon has preferred to buy large expensive systems, giving enemies richer targets, industry officials said.
"That is a problem," said Kennedy. "The idea of having lots of something as a deterrent isn't a bad thing. … It's very difficult for DoD to see beyond the traditional model. But DARPA is well positioned to poke at that model."
Kennedy defended DARPA's decision to award BAE Systems a $12 million contract to develop a digital "testbed" for space command-and-control technologies. Companies in the sector contend that such technology is commercially available.
The project, known as "Hallmark," is more ambitious than it looks, said Kennedy, and DARPA believes it needs to invest in areas where there is no commercial capability. The testbed is not just to experiment with technology but also to do cognitive assessments of operators. "We want to measure how people are performing when they get new tools. We think that's a unique place for us," he said. "We thought we needed to invest in that."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Sure, now that SpaceX has reduced the cost to orbit by a big chunk, Dr Fred states the obvious -- and yet there are people who don't believe him. Thanks BenLurkin.
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