Transmission 2023-10
A Space & Defense Startup Takes Aim at Train and Equip Status Quo
“We're building trainers. We're building modeling and simulation environments. We're building very high fidelity physics libraries that allow for operators to interact and learn in a self-paced way about the physics of the domain and about how to fly. And then we're building intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, or sometimes in our community called space domain awareness capabilities to go take pictures of Chinese and Russian satellites and other gray satellites.” - Even Rogers
Hello,
The Biden Administration’s FY ‘24 budget has dropped! The $842 billion request for the Department of Defense is $26 billion, or 3.2 percent, more than the final FY ‘23 topline number of $817 billion. The administration’s budget request also includes a 7 percent bump in NASA’s budget from $25.4 billion in FY ‘23 to $27.2 billion next year.
I’m mentioning NASA’s budget because the moon and Mars programs and its interest in commercial space stations have the geopolitical angle of deepening ties with space-faring and space-aspiring democracies. China, a major space-faring autocracy, is not just a “pacing threat” on earth, but a competitor on orbit, on the moon, and Mars.
We’ll be digging into the budget more deeply next week, after the administration releases the budget request’s Justification Books. That’s where the details are. In the meantime, we have this from page 65 of the Budget of the United States Government:
“Space is vital to U.S. national security and integral to modern warfare. The Budget maintains America’s advantage by improving the resilience of U.S. space architectures, such as in space sensing and communications, to bolster deterrence and increase survivability during hostilities.”
Happy Hour with the Milky Way Economy and The DownLink
Are you going to be in Washington, D.C. next week? Maybe you’re attending SatShow 2023? Come meet me and the Milky Way Economy team! We’ll be at City Tap House talking space and comparing notes with you about SatShow ‘23. Let us know you are coming on Eventbrite.
What’s in this week’s episode
In last week’s Transmission, I shared with you the “C-Note” from the Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance “Salty” Saltzman. In the note he wrote, “Preserving U.S. freedom of action in an increasingly contested space domain requires a military force specifically trained and equipped for the purpose.”
This week’s episode is about a group of former military space pros who have founded a company to specifically get after the train and equip requirements. True Anomaly’s Co-Founder and CEO Even Rogers says his company is aiming to train Guardians and manufacture orbital pursuit vehicles that can get up close and personal with objects of interest in any orbit.
Who’s on this week’s episode
Even Rogers, Co-Founder and CEO of True Anomaly
Where you can get this week’s episode
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What I’m reading
Sam LaGrone of the United States Naval Institute News, scooped the defense media with his story titled “Chinese Rocket that Delivered Military Spy Satellites Breaks Up Over Texas”. His reporting revealed that a four-ton piece of a Chinese-made Chang Zheng 2D ‘Long March’ rocket, its second stage, reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated over Texas on Wednesday.
Connor O’brien and Lee Hudson of Politico tackle one of the live-wire debates about the U.S. Space Force in their article, “There’s a new push to create a Space National Guard. Lawmakers say the price is right.” The Biden Administration is not in favor of establishing a Space Force National Guard saying the cost would be too great, citing Office of Management and Budget estimates, which are also hotly debated. Those in favor of creating a Space Force National Guard argue the merits of readiness, talent retention, and service to the states where these units would likely be located.
Ad Astra!
Laura