28 July, 2023
Hosted by Redwire, the panel includes:
Steve Jacques, NSSA Executive Director
Christopher Solee, Deputy Director, Capability and Resource Integration Directorate, US Space Command, Peterson Space Force Base
Mark Jelonek, General Manager, Advanced Planning & Development, Aerospace Corporation
Col. (ret.) Dean Bellamy, Executive Vice President, National Security Space, Redwire
Steve Jacques (Moderator)
Opening Statement:
Hello, everyone. My name is Steve Jakes and I'm the executive director of the National Security Space Association. And I'm very pleased to be here at the red Red Wire facility here in Longmont, Colorado. And we're delighted that Red Wire is one of our NSA members, devoted members, and after a terrific visit and facility tour here and at Red Wire, I'm also pleased to have with us an esteemed panel of national security space experts, one of whom continues to serve in government today. The other two are former uniform officers in different capacities to stay on the industry side. These gents have, in some cases, known each other for quite some time, but surely have known a lot of other people in the business. Our first our first panelists is to my extreme left is Mr. Chris Soley. He is a leader in the senior executive service. He serves as the deputy director of the Capability and Resource Integration director, otherwise known as the Deputy J8 at down the road, a US space command to his right is Mr. Dean Bellamy, one of the two Air Force retired colonels who is is the executive vice president and national of national security space of our host company here at Red Wire.
On the Focus on Proliferation and Resiliency:
-Our nation is very heavily focused on proliferation, on resiliency. Today we'll take that general topic, focus on the Warfighter communications, where we'll be exploring proliferated and resilient architectures in the modern battlefield.
-Proliferated Warfighter communication architectures enable greater redundancy and resilience in the face of adversarial disruptions.
Christopher Solee:
Opening Statement:
I appreciate being able to be here today and part of the panel. I've been at US Space Command for about two years now and a really exciting time to be involved in space, even dating back to 2018 and being able to be part of the team selected to help solidify why we needed a space force and take that to the Hill to get that approved. But then being at the command and really helping to in some cases redefine it in other times to define for the first time really the the joint space warfighting requirements that we need to be able to enable the commander, US Space Command to do his assigned missions along those lines specifically for kind of a satellite communications. We actually have a joint space communications layer initial capabilities document that really kind of sets the requirements for what we believe the joint warfighter needs from a Satcom perspective in the 10 to 15 years in the future. And that document is actually I've got my team in the Pentagon this week briefing that to the C4 Cyber Functional Capability Board, ultimately going up to the Jroc for approval by the vice chairman. It was such an exciting time. Glad to be here. Look forward to the panel.
On Resilience in Space:
-We talked about the six characteristics of resiliency…Those six kinds of discrete characteristics of resilience in space are disaggregation, distribution, protection, proliferation, deception, and diversification.
On the Evolution of Communications:
-In my mind, it really boils down to data transmission, right? So I need to communicate.
-We've been for 50 or 60 years now. We've been stuck in these concepts of narrow band wide band protected commercial satcom.
-We need to look at almost a model like that in my approach to my thoughts about how we get to communication, to the future in terms of how we're going to proliferate and diversify and distribute that.
On Understanding the Entire Battlespace:
-Dickinson has been very consistent in his public speaking and his testimony on the Hill that, you know, space domain awareness is his number one priority.
There's essentially three critical segments to any space capability, right? There's the on orbit piece, there's the ground control and user segment piece. And then there's that link that goes in between the two of them.
-And so first and foremost, if I don't have a good understanding in each of those areas, which really makes up that battlespace awareness picture that the commander of US Space Command needs to have.
On Threat Assessment:
-The challenge is kind of associated with that. Again, is then understanding exactly how an enemy might try to deny, disrupt, degrade or potentially, you know, in a wartime scenario, destroy some sort of a capability.
-I think about what's happening in Ukraine today. Right. I think we're getting a good idea and good understanding of at least one adversary of how they might try and go after things.
On Centralization and Automation:
-A lot of our processes are inefficient in their decentralization and to get to where we really need to be, we need to have centralized processes.
-We need to have more automated systems to help in that management. Right, Because that's quite honestly, having a man in the loop on those sorts of things is only going to put us behind the Ooda loop of the adversary.
On Spectrum Agility and Collaboration:
-We need more spectrum agility. We've seen that in some of the current systems we have today.
-The United States has not gone at it alone. But a lot of times we don't build our systems to be able to share with our allies and partners, and we need to look at how we can do that better.
On Cost Efficiency and Terminal Flexibility:
-One thing that I've noticed is that our terminals and ground segments are always disconnected from our space segment.
-I need to have terminals that are flexible and resilient in their own ways. In terms of, as I mature and evolve my space segment, that I don't have to constantly be replacing that terminal.
On Adopting Optical Cross Links:
-I have long thought that we need optical cross links on virtually every communication satellite we put in orbit.
-Unfortunately, it was a classified level form because somebody was developing optical cross-link standards at a classified level and then somebody else had unclassified standards.
On the Importance of Open Standards and Inclusivity:
-And so we've got to get on board at the Space Force. But even the DOD as a whole, in terms of as we develop standards that we strive to make them unclassified if possible or at the lowest possible security classification.
On Digital Engineering and Gap Analysis:
-I do say if I can jump back to what you talked about with digital engineering, I think that's critical that we get there.
-But wouldn't it be great in the future if I can codify capture in a digital model my gaps and be able to give that directly to Swac or to SSC and then they can leverage that to go into an RFP for a new system.
On Ukraine & Battlefield Communications:
-We've definitely seen how Ukraine's use of StarLink has shifted the dynamics of battlefield communications, showcasing both its strengths and potential vulnerabilities.
-While we learn from the dynamics in Ukraine, it's vital to remember that nations like China are observing and adapting as well. Our strategies need to be two steps ahead.
On DOD & Intelligence Community Communication Systems:
-Commercial satellite communication has the potential to address over half of our DOD and IC requirements, changing the landscape of how we approach strategic deterrence.
-It's time we moved towards a unified, enterprise-wise approach to satellite communication, avoiding inefficiencies and siloed efforts.
On Protection and Defense for Allies & Commercial Satellites:
-Our commitment is clear: when directed, we stand ready to provide protection and defense for our allies, partners, and commercial satellites. Yet, we must acknowledge our limitations in this vast domain.
-Indications and warnings are our first line of passive defense, but as threats evolve, our defense strategies need to be more dynamic, more proactive.
Col. (ret.) Dean Bellamy On Adapting to the Modern Battlefield & The Value of Proliferated Architecture
-We're seeing the value of it, whether you look at white sky or space and their ability to overcome and is actually making it a real challenge for the adversary.
-You're creating really the right mission assurance and resilience to ensure that the warfighters get the data at the speed that they need it, Right. The speed of need, right.
-I think when you go back to kind of having a hybrid distributed architecture where you don't have all your eggs in one basket, right. Going back to the shuttle in 1986, we learned, don't have all your eggs in one basket.
On the Evolution of Technology & The Importance of Agility
-It's great to be here in the factory today and have a chance to walk you through and show you how we're manufacturing our antennas for national security.
-We're really focused on if we need to be agile and create an antenna and actually have it in operation in six months, as we've proven, we'll do that for those rapid turn keys or if we need to develop really what I would say is affordable, low-cost, proliferate-able antennas.
On Integration & Acceleration in Space Operations
-The accelerated acquisition is going to force on them, accelerating their ability to bring those capabilities into operations as well.
-Right now, the Space Operations Command is just starting to realize that if we're going to get these capabilities on 2 or 3 year centers, we need to accelerate the way we integrate that capability into the operation.
On Threat Awareness & Resilience in the Space Domain
-I actually agree with you on space. Domain awareness. You know, that's one of the things that we're really pushing is having camera systems to do local proximity awareness because we think that's an important, really complimentary attribute to everything else going on.
-You know, things could be you're being threatened, they could be threatened. When you look at what China and Russia and other adversaries are currently doing in space.
On Digital Engineering & Interoperability
-I think we need to if I was in government, I'd want a space lab that would be agnostic to whatever optical cross-link you have without all the manufacturers that come in there to work the software piece to make sure they can connect access and share data, right?
-That's really, really important and then allow them to say can they be interoperable and then understand that software piece behind it.
-If you're able to do it with hardware in the loop and have a virtual digital twin where you know they work because you end up having vendor lock and third parties aren't able to come in, that really hurts the US government and taxpayer.
Mark Jelonek:
Opening Statement: Appreciate the opportunity to be here. I spent a few more years in the business then as dean. We first met 30 years ago and I was a little older then, but I like to tell people that I've done just about everything you can do in DOD space. I've been an operator, I've done R&D acquisition, strategy and policy, budget programming, command and control. And so I've got a career of a lot of opinions. People that know me will think I'm highly opinionated and some might even be interested in a few of those opinions. So the work that I do now down in our aerospace office in Albuquerque is that I'm the general manager for a portfolio that supports the Space Systems Command Innovation and Prototyping Directorate, the Space Rapid Capabilities Office and the Air Force Research Lab, Space Vehicles Directorate. That whole portfolio is about going fast, taking ideas, putting them into prototypes, taking them into rapid production, risk tolerant programs, rapid acquisition, and trying to move forward on what the Space Force needs to prevail in a possible conflict in space.
On Innovation and Progress:
-We need to give credit to their journey, their break at SpaceX, the whole team at right, the Space Development Agency, they're breaking grass and they're doing great things and they're moving to a different model.
On Cybersecurity:
-One of the things at Red Wire, we have created something called Space Quest with a company called Big Bear, where we're looking at the cyber vulnerability of those communications.
On an Integrated Communication Approach:
-I don't like to talk about just space communications, but the entire communications architecture and we haven't really studied that on how do you put that entire integrated architecture together to be successful and resilient.
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