The Space Review Resilient disaggregated and mixed constellations By Thomas D. Taverney August 29 2011

We are at a seminal moment in the future of space. Budgets are going down: of that there is no doubt. And warfighters need and want more and more capabilities from space: of that there is unequivocally no doubt. That conundrum requires that we change how we acquire, operate, and sustain our space systems. The question is, how should we shape this change? We need to change the assumptions for our space enterprise and forge different business models with different logic and inherent costs and resulting in different mission architectures. This change will bring different risks. We must start thinking in a way that allows us to identify, handle, and defeat programmatic risks and challenges. In doing this, our understanding of what constitutes unacceptable risk must evolve, and be balanced with cost, adaptability, technology insertion, and resilience. Indeed, such risk is clearly in the “eye of the beholder”. Given the financial challenges our country is facing, the level of what can be considered acceptable risk must change. Accordingly, the risk presented by disaggregated/mixed constellation acquisition models is acceptable, and should be wholly considered. Thoughtful conclusions on space acquisition