23 March 2023
Women In Aerospace: Future Architectures
Speakers:
Dr. Claire Leon, Director (HQE) Space Systems Integration Office, SSC, USSF
Shannon Pallone, Deputy SFPEO, BMC3, SSC, USSF
Barbara Golf, Executive Agent for Space Domain Awareness, SSC, USSF
Charlotte Gerhart, Chief, Tactical SATCOM Acquisition Delat, MilComm & PNT
Q&A
On future architectures
Q- What does future architecture mean to you and your role?
Golf: How are we going to deploy services in a resilient manner to our user base? Space is contested. At SSC we’ve turned the corner, really taking a bigger picture view. It’s a key part.
Leon: I have no authority. We’re trying to work with all the mission partners but call it the coalition of the willing. We’re trying to pivot from old stovepipe programs of record to much more integrated and resilient systems. One piece, get after the fight. Have to use what we have today. A lot of them don’t talk to each other well. At the same time we’re trying to look ahead. Start with SWAC and current programs to look at how to pivot to resiliency.
Pallone: Where my mission sits is how do I tie it all together, treat it as a system of systems… We haven’t spent the majority of our history thinking this way. How am I getting the right data to where it needs to be at the right time?... If we can’t talk and orchestrate together then inherently the mission we’re responsible for fails.
On future constellations and missions
Q- What current missions are being considered to fill this need?
Gerhart: In the past, we have systems that we use now that we built brilliantly and we won with that purpose. But can we do that same thing all the time in the future considering our adversaries have studied them? Will we win? No. How do I bring them together to optimize them as well and bring in new technology and have them all work together to bring effects. MW/MT has been a big area. Tactical satcom is another. We’re bringing forward the next gen. More focus on jamming.
On getting systems interoperable
Q- Challenges and standards in interoperability?
Leon: I think we’re trying to create the processes to be interoperable as we speak. Storming, norming, performing, we’re still in the storming phase and thinking through the plans. I’d give us an F today for interoperability but we’re getting after it….
Golf: Balance between interoperability and exploration. ISR, comms, PNT all come out of space but we need to look at what else we can do with this. These are massive changes. What can we do with all the extra data and payloads… Things like GPS jammers, you squeak with a GPS jammer, I know where you are and I can do it unclassified. We didn’t realize this was something we’d be able to do. Serendipitous actions that we weren’t expecting or thinking about that we now have… Are we listening to what’s possible as we continue to look at what we’re good at?
Pallone: … I think we really need to be looking at bringing such an amount of creativity in this community… Look at all the data that’s coming down, how do I expose it, analyze it, how can I look at the problem differently? It’s a force multiplier.
On timelines and getting to fielding
Q- How do you view the time to field shift?
Leon: SDA has really put down a strategy around this and 2 year timelines. 10 AQ cycles, can’t fail programs, you invest a lot to make sure they’re right. I think we’ll see more and more SDA timelines… We’re also trying to get after the fight and getting ready for 26 27.
Golf: Launch community is one of the key reasons we were able to get out of this mindset. We are more free to fail. It’s agile development. Agile development on the ground, agile deployment, what can I do with this? Constantly learning and listening to use better practices than yesterday.
Pallone: How do I do that in a way that enables fast but in a way that it’s ready and I know how to use it? Being trained and up to speed, how do we get everybody comfortable and they have tools with higher levels of risk but absolute game changers if you know how to use them.
Gerhart: Speed is everything. Lives depend on what we’re providing. It has to work and it’s got to work on time. How do I balance the new opportunities and the training and the users?... It’s a really exciting time. We have the opportunities and the tools, so how do we bring it all together?
On how industry can help
Q- Anything you’d like to see from industry and being good partners?
Pallone: It all comes down to communication and how are we thinking about being more flexible in the future? How do we have flexibility contractually? Building trust between government and industry teams and being honest with problem sets and solutions… When you have this attitude, it’s really exciting and we need to continue these dialogues.
Leon: Put yourself in the shoes of the government. What does the warfighter really need? Then think what we can do differently from what we’ve done in the past. Put the mission first. Looking for and offering back different solutions we might not have thought of. Also think about automation. We burden SpOC. As you go forward, how can the systems operate themselves?
Golf: Show me don’t tell me. Commercial Operation Cell, we haven’t bought anything off of PowerPoint in three years. That might get you through the door, but if it’s a PowerPoint pitch only with nothing behind it, you might not get invited back in for a few months…
On future leader characteristics
Q- Thoughts on what characteristics you’d want to see in the next gen of aerospace leaders?
Golf: Leaders focused on themselves vs the missions… Leaders that can do major turnarounds, make evolutions, will to make things work but ability to listen to others and how they might be able to make things work.
Gerhart: How can I learn from what you did and be smarter? Asking why. Why did we build systems the way we did in the past and then look at how we can move faster. Don’t be afraid to learn. It’s not about yourself but the mission.
Pallone: Start with mission. Fearlessness, fight for what you think the right thing to do is to get after the mission. Don’t be afraid to get scars. Who are you bringing up behind you? Be thinking about that also.
Leon: When you’re hiring, what do you consider? I’d be looking for a spark and wanting and willing to learn.
Audience Q&A
On unlocking business
Q- How can industry help more and unlock more business?
Golf: Again, the show me don't tell me. We run unclassified live practices all the time. They’re free. It’s on a zoom link. Opportunities of being able to plug into commercial and you showing us what’s possible right now.
Leon: A lot of the primes have deep expertise in one or two mission areas and I’d ask you to think about how we can make it more agile.
Pallone: We are developing better tools to get after this. Space Enterprise Consortium… We really appreciate feedback. We’re changing how we’re approaching the problem and we’re in a have-to-be-transparent environment because of the taxpayers. We’re putting the mechanisms in place. Exploit, buy, build, how do we put more effort on the exploit and buy?
Golf: Exploit, buy, build. SDA is an enormous problem set. For so many years we spent a lot of time on position and velocity. SDA is so much more than that. Just because we put the build focus on the program of record, it doesn’t mean we aren’t looking at the exploit, buy. We’re open to exploit, buy across the mission space. When you look at the scope of the mission set, there might be things that we put at the bottom out of habit. Show us what we put away out of bad habits. Instead of going after the bigs, there may be opportunities to help us with missions that are still important but we haven’t put enough attention to.
On shifting mindsets
Q- How do you approach the challenge of shifting mindsets on an individual level?
Gerhart: Start with the why. Why on the mission. Do I understand the mission well enough to explain the question I’m trying to ask. Ask why are requirements written a certain way? What was the lesson learned?
Golf: Initiative to demonstrate. If you’re going to change a mentality, you have to do it and show that it’s better. The only way to change someone’s mind is to change their reality and show that this is better and faster.
Leon: With the current leadership there is much more openness to doing things faster. It comes down to incentives up and down the chain and incentivizing our leaders to move faster and save money.
Pallone: Humility and will. Insist on being heard and don’t be afraid to speak up.
On sustainability
Q- How can we look at sustainability footprints?
Golf: I don’t know if we’ve given real thought to the mess we’re making. It’s something I fear most about space warfare. It will keep us stuck with the resources on this planet. We’re cruisin for a bruisin. We have to be cautious.
Pallone: The more we send things up, from a manufacturing point of view, am I making resources more scarce… Biggest downside of proliferation is can we continue the pace and what does it mean from a resourcing problem?
On key tenets for future architectures
Q- What are some key tenets for future architectures?
Leon: Rapid, flexible, affordable, resilient, proliferated, sustainable
On commercial protection
Q- Many commercial companies are not getting the same level of time and resources to risk reducing themselves. Do you feel many of these companies will be in the fight come day 0?
Golf: I would say absolutely yes and we need to be prepared. Our adversaries do not value rule of law and whether or not you’re a valid military target. Anyone involved in these activities… Day 0 will be open season on the space community. We’re all targets.
Leon: Government has to choose who to invest in. Companies with the spirit that keep trying are the ones who will make it.
On technology
Q- Technology you’re excited about? Technology gaps?
Golf: LEO, GEO, then there’s x GEO that kind of freaks me out. I don’t know how to plan for, process data from, sense, in x GEO. That’s a pile of requirements. I don’t know how to cover down on that amount of volume. I don’t know how to do it in a cost-effective manner. That’s my third priority. It’s LEO, GEO, x GEO. I’m dreading getting to x GEO.
Pallone: What keeps me up at night is everything cyber. Zero trust is a big buzzword. I think there are great leaps there. Keeping everything cyber secure…
Gerhart: I need science, engineering, technology, legal… I need everyone working together.
Leon: Decision quality information. Decision process, vast data and pulling real intelligence, I think that’s huge.
On supply chain
Q-How do you feel about supply chain and foreign markets?
Golf: I’m very concerned about vendor lock. I’m nervous about our history of focusing on efficiency. There’s a shift we’ll have to do from efficiency to effectiveness in a variety of different ways. It feels wasteful but it’s acknowledging that we’re in a threat environment.
Pallone: Pandemic gave us great examples for how this can be an issue. I’m all for a global market but if we become isolated, will we have the capacity to produce in a timely manner?
On allied by design
Q- Allied by design, how can industry also embrace this?
Leon: Calvelli has asked for metrics by PEO for what aspects are commercial and he expects every year for it to go up. We’re in a time of change and are actively looking for opportunities. We have to keep pursuing.
Golf: Allied by design is so important. Look at what’s happening in Ukraine. Data sharing, classification, communication…Yes there’s a technical change that I think is happening but it’s also cultural. We saw in Ukraine, crushing an adversary through economics. Can we do this in space? Everything is so classified I would think not…
Pallone: Look at what all of our strengths are and push this and understand how to do this… In Ukraine, it’s an allied effort. That’s the power of partnership.
Gerhart: We do partner with you and we’d never go into something alone.
On SSC contracting
Q- How is SSC contracting helping you accomplish your goals?
Pallone: They’re continuously pushing me to look at things differently. They’re partners with us. I couldn’t do anything without that partnership. They’re bringing a lot of creativity to the table. I’ve really seen our contracting workforce rise to the challenge.
Gerhart: We buy nothing without contracts. They’re helping us move the ball forward.
Golf: In my cell, they’re constantly hunting for more. Competition in every single thing. Looking across what’s the best bang for our buck. That’s something I’m seeing that’s now routine.
[End]
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