Prakash Nanda
If anything, satellite imaging company Vantor’s signing of a contract last week with the U.S. Space Force to help run a “neighborhood watch” in space to monitor space-based threats like rogue satellites or debris that ground sensors may miss has reconfirmed a growing trend.
And that is the significant role the private sector now plays in developing and operating spy satellites of the world’s major military powers.
This marks a major shift from the traditional model, where only government space agencies and large defense contractors handled such programs. But now, the commercial sector is often developing technology faster and more cheaply. Defense agencies are leveraging that.
Contractually, Vantor, using its own satellites already in orbit, will monitor space and protect U.S. satellites in the increasingly crowded area between 99 and 1,200 miles above the surface.
It may be noted that there is now an intense new space race, with countries such as the United States, China, Russia, India, and Israel launching more and more satellites into orbit, both civilian and military.
Military satellites have emerged as indispensable in modern warfare. Since the earliest reconnaissance satellites of the Cold War era, space-based assets have evolved into “silent sentinels” that offer unrivaled advantages in “Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR); secure communications; navigation and precision strike; missile defense early warning; electronic warfare support; and space situational awareness”.
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