To stay ahead of adversaries, the IC must change its internal “data ownership” culture that allows those who collect data to believe “they are the ones who get to determine how it’s used,” says Sue Gordon.

Air Force Space Command deputy Maj. Gen. John Shaw says the US probably won’t be using piloted Tie Fighters in future space wars. But…

NGA’s Global EDG program is a good example of how the 2017 bifurcation of authority over commercial remote sensing acquisition between the NGA and the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO) — a transition that remains somewhat troubled –is supposed to work.

“[A]dversaries could track the movements of U.S. and allied military equipment, detecting patterns of training and operations; hyperspectral imaging can identify chemical compositions; short-wavelength infrared imaging can see through clouds; and SAR sensors can image at night. When determining risks to national security, one can define it as the risk of being seen or detected.”

Tiny Luxembourg is mighty in Europe’s space innovation sector. Because of a government-backed investment and tax-break scheme launched in 2017, it now is home to more than 50 commercial space companies and research labs.

NGA and NRO “have significantly overlapping Venn diagrams,” one industry source said, and they are still trying to “sort that through.” He added, “It’s not a nice clean line.”

“If you’re looking for an area to partner with us, I highly recommend you focus on Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Augmentation — what we call AAA,” Vice Adm. Bob Sharp the industry audience at GEOINT 2019 in San Antonio today.

“To be quite honest most of our space systems are not the leading edge technologies,” Troy Meink, head of GEOINT at NRO, said. “We’ve not kept up in many cases with the commercial environment.”

Join me as I explore the intricacies of ethics, technology, policy and politics with three experts on this somewhat arcane subject.

“It is rocket science, after all,” says Trump-appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who questions the commission’s mandate on orbital debris mitigation oversight for commercial space companies.