'IN THE NEXT TWO OR THREE YEARS': The Pentagon's Silicon Valley outpost is giving greater attention to emerging commercial technologies and concepts to create "a logistics ecosystem in space" for missions such as transferring satellites to alternate orbits, transporting fuel and materials to power spacecraft or building private space stations and outposts on the moon. "We're even seeing concepts about an ecosystem where you have different components working together in a modular way," Michael Brown, who runs the Defense Innovation Unit, recently told us. He cited, for example, "different transportation vehicles to get from one orbit to another" and the capability "to store fuel or materials to build with." "People are starting to conceive of a logistics ecosystem in space," he said. "We're working with DARPA, with Space Development and with NASA. I think the reason we're involved is some of this capability is now starting to be available, if not today in the next two or three years." The DIU's other space-related priorities include helping the military tap into "rapid launch capability," he added. "How do we start to see some companies think about having a regular launch service as opposed to everything geared towards launch for a certain date and then you wait a year until the next launch? More and more companies are conceiving of launch as a service." He also believes "we're really at the inflection point" for small satellites in low-Earth orbit, especially for Earth observation. He cited "tremendous gains in terms of what can be done to analyze that imagery that comes back, to digitally enhance that, the ability to use machine learning to be able to target certain things and get more from that data." READ UP: Our full POLITICO Pro Q&A. 'TARGETED GOVERNMENT INVESTMENTS': Under current law, NASA is expected to wind down its stewardship of the International Space Station later this decade. But what comes next? It's a pressing question facing the new administration and Congress, two former top White House space officials contend in a new POLITICO op-ed. And they say the answer is for the government to step up and to spur the development of private space stations or the United States risks losing its technological lead in low-Earth orbit. "The utilization of LEO, at this time, is not something that can be driven solely by the private sector," write Scott Pace and Jared Stout, who were the executive secretary and chief of staff at the National Space Council in the Trump White House. "Targeted government investments are required, not a huge new program of record, but strategic investments in technologies and capabilities to help push the industry forward." "Developing private space stations is not cheap and it is quite risky as a business proposition," they add, "but it is doable with modest government investment and creative business leadership." Otherwise, the United States is at risk of losing the high ground — and the economic benefits that go with it, they warn. "The alternative is to ignore this transition until faced with a crisis," according to Pace and Stout. "Even in today's fast-moving space world, ensuring the United States retains its hard won capabilities in LEO will take time. If we don't work now toward a post-ISS future, while taking advantage of the ISS as it is today, we will be making a choice to abandon LEO to others in the future."
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