Defense News | August 8, 2021 | Lukas Autenried |
Success in future military conflicts will depend on which side can collect, process and share information to make better decisions faster than their adversary. This is the fundamental imperative behind efforts such as DoD’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control strategy and the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System. A major step in turning these concepts into reality took place in late June when the Space Development Agency launched its first two satellite missions into orbit. A key goal is to demonstrate space-based optical communications — also known as laser communications — between two satellites in low Earth orbit and between a satellite and an MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft.