Synopsis of the report Lessons from the Cloud: Outsourcing and Integrating Commercial Space Services, Aerospace, April 2024
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has spent the last two decades integrating commercial cloud capabilities into its vast information technology architecture. The goal has been to realize key benefits like resilience, rapid innovation, and agile implementation that the commercial sector can provide. Over this time, the DOD has learned valuable lessons about the enablers and tradeoffs required to successfully leverage commercial services.
As the commercial space sector rapidly advances, introducing new technologies and services at a pace that outstrips traditional DOD acquisition cycles, there is growing interest in integrating commercial space capabilities into hybrid DOD space architectures as well. Recent events like the use of Starlink by Ukraine in the war with Russia have further inspired the DOD to take advantage of commercial space innovation, volume, and pricing to complement government capabilities.
To guide this integration, the DOD and U.S. Space Force (USSF) have recently released commercial space strategies. These documents define what space mission areas are candidates for commercial integration. However, they stop short of providing an implementation roadmap for how to effectively pursue a service-based acquisition approach and integrate commercial services into hybrid architectures.
Fortunately, the DOD’s experience with commercial cloud integration over the past 20 years offers a useful model. Commercial cloud services and commercial space services share key similarities that make cloud a relevant analogy:
- In both domains, commercial companies are leading invention and pushing the envelope on new capabilities
- DOD IT and space architectures must both manage data at multiple classification levels
- There is private sector demand for many of the same cloud and space services needed by the DOD
- Cloud and space services are both sold “as-a-service”, using OPEX cost models vs CAPEX ownership
While not a perfect analogy, examining the DOD’s cloud integration journey can provide a practical framework as the USSF and DOD work to onboard more commercial space services.
The common benefits the DOD seeks from commercial cloud and space are clear:
- Resilience – Integrating diverse commercial services provides resilience to disruption by increasing system volume and diversity. Cloud data is replicated across dispersed data centers to withstand losses. Commercial space can enable diversification using different orbits, platforms and capabilities.
- Rapid Innovation – The private sector is outpacing government R&D investment and talent. Cloud providers compete on innovation, rapidly introducing new services. Space startups are driving a surge in novel capabilities for communications, sensing, and more.
- Agile Implementation – Acquiring services “as-a-service” allows DOD to quickly spin up capabilities without lengthy procurement timelines and facilities investments. Existing cloud data centers and space services can be tapped into with agility as demands evolve.
However, the DOD’s cloud experience shows that realizing these benefits requires overcoming hurdles through five key enablers:
- Adapt Security Standards to the Context – The DOD had to develop entirely new ways to certify cloud security, working closely with vendors to adapt on-premises standards to the cloud context. Similar work is needed to adapt space system security approaches for commercial services.
- Invest in the Network – Accessing commercial cloud required the DOD to upgrade its networks for adequate performance and security. Integrating commercial space services will require investing in ground stations, communications links, and data pipelines as well.
- Share Responsibility with Vendors – The DOD and cloud vendors had to redefine their working relationship, sharing responsibilities for security, incident response, and system maintenance. Partnering with commercial space will require similar redefinition of roles and responsibilities.
- Upskill the Workforce – Adopting commercial cloud required the DOD to grow its in-house cloud skills. Leveraging commercial space services will likewise require new expertise in service acquisition, integration, and space domain awareness.
- Establish Acquisition Practices – The DOD has been establishing contract vehicles and terms to acquire cloud “as-a-service” for over a decade. Buying space services will require similar work to define requirements in service-level agreements and pricing models.
Overcoming these hurdles has required the DOD to make some tradeoffs. Adapting to commercial cloud meant ceding some control over the IT stack and becoming dependent on vendors’ pace of innovation. Leveraging commercial space services will require similar tradeoffs in control and capability timelines.
However, the DOD has found that these tradeoffs are worthwhile to harness the benefits of the commercial cloud. And in many cases, the tradeoffs can be mitigated through the enablers above – robust networks, shared responsibilities, a skilled workforce, and smart acquisition.
The same will likely prove true for commercial space services. By establishing a framework to work through the enablers and tradeoffs of commercial integration, the USSF and DOD can accelerate the adoption of commercial space capabilities into hybrid architectures.
The first step is to define a maturity model for this integration, with phases that align to expanding levels of commercial space adoption:
Level 1 – Minimal: Procure commercial services on a limited basis for non-critical missions. Maintain government-owned capabilities.
Level 2 – Moderate: Integrate select commercial services into hybrid architectures for some mission-critical needs. Maintain back-up government capabilities.
Level 3 – Significant: Transition a majority of non-core functions to commercial services. Maintain government capabilities only for most sensitive missions.
Level 4 – Extensive: Shift all non-core functions to commercial services aaS. Maintain few to no government-owned capabilities.
This maturity model acknowledges that commercial space integration will be a journey. Not all missions will be outsourced overnight. But by defining a phased approach, the DOD can progressively work through the enablers and tradeoffs required to bring commercial services into the fold.
The model also provides a method to assess different mission areas and identify which phase of commercial integration is appropriate for each, based on factors like:
- Sensitivity of the mission and data
- Availability and robustness of commercial solutions
- Relative costs of commercial services vs. government capabilities
- Ability to maintain proficiency in government-owned capabilities
With this framework in hand, the USSF and DOD can chart a pragmatic course to realize the benefits of commercial space. They can focus near-term efforts on establishing the enablers for initial integration, while making judicious choices about which capabilities to outsource first. Then they can evolve their approach as commercial services and acquisition practices mature.
The path to full commercial integration will not be quick or easy. It will require sustained leadership, collaboration with industry, and a willingness to adapt on both sides. But the lessons from the DOD’s commercial cloud journey light the way. By learning from the past and leveraging proven enablers, the USSF and DOD can accelerate the adoption of commercial space services to build more resilient, innovative, and agile space architectures for the future.