The U.S. is at an inflection point in defense spending, said...
The U.S. is at an inflection point in defense spending, said Kay Sears, Intelsat General president. The nation is “probably at the top end of another cycle in defense spending,” she said Tuesday at a Washington Space Business Roundtable event.…
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In the early 2000s, the U.S. grew less comfortable with its space capabilities, she said. “The technological advances of others have forced the U.S. into a defensive posture.” The budgetary downturn is changing the Defense Department culture and “driving them to make some of the hard decisions that they have avoided in the years of plenty,” she said. Sears said the environment that the government and satellite industry are facing is “very unique as we enter this next cycle” of defense spending. The government’s reliance on space capabilities has never been greater, she said. “The U.S. space superiority is diminished by other nations’ space capabilities and the threat environment is increasing.” The nation has an economic and budgetary challenge “that could exceed any time in history,” Sears said. The DOD must consider affordability, portfolio optimization, resiliency, consolidation and other factors to address the needs of the next generation of space capabilities, she said.