Satellite servicing industry faces uncertain military demand – SpaceNews

The space industry is rapidly advancing and so is the demand for more complex challenges. Companies are attempting to get in on the ask from the U.S. military to perform in orbit missions, such as refueling or repairs. One of the highlights of the Hubble Telescope is that it was designed to be serviced. This allowed for new technology to be incorporated as required and repairs performed if needed – which is what makes servicing satellites so attractive. The issue is as it stands, the space industry is not set up for these kinds of challenges. As the military demand increases for this type of work, the quality and security of the product output could significantly decline. In some cases, faster is not always better. I see a potential for this increased demand to cause companies to output a lower quality product just to meet the industry demand. Cyber in space really isn’t even considered on normal space missions with a generous timeline; if a project becomes rushed, you can imagine that cyber security of the system could be one of the first things to be forgotten about.