The possibilities include the operation of automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning to feel, target and hit an enemy vehicle – immediately a truck, tank, plane, ship or rocket – immediately.
“When I am about to be, I am less dependent on the ground and I can make up the world with my mesh network,” Davis said. “There is inherent resilience in overall architecture – not only the space architecture, but the overall architecture – if the soil segment or the link segment is attacked.”
Interrogate
Military officials did not announce the costs of Milnet, neither in the current form or in the future architecture proposed by the Trump administration. For context, SDA has awarded contracts with a fixed price worth more than $ 5.6 billion for around 340 data relay satellites in tranches 1 and 2.
That is about $ 16 million per spacecraft, at least an order of size more expensive than a Starlink -satellite that comes from the SpaceX assembly line. Starshield satellites, with their safe communication options, are probably somewhat more expensive than a ready-made Starlink.
Some former defense officials and legislators are uncomfortable when placing commercially operated satellites in the 'kill chain', using the term military officials for identifying threats, taking a targeting decision and taking military action.
It is not yet clear whether SpaceX will serve the Milnet satellites in this new paradigm, but the company has a long -term preference for this. A few years ago SpaceX built a handful of technical demo satellites for the Space Development Agency, but did not compete for subsequent SDA contracts. One reason for this, told ARS sources, is that the SDA manages its satellite constellation of control centers run by the government.
Instead, the SDA chose L3HARRIS, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, Sierra Space, Terran Orbital and York Space Systems to follow the following rocket and offer satellites of data transport. RTX, previously known as Raytheon, withdrew from a contract after the company had established that it could not earn money from the program.
