Shaw envisions creation of 'internet of space things'

One of the top officials at U.S. Space Command said today he foresees the formation of "an internet of space things" that would facilitate autonomous communications between satellites and constellations, bolster awareness and avoid collisions.

All of that, SPACECOM Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. John Shaw said, would be part of "a broader connection" that he likened to the development of a single internet that's currently largely accessible around the world.

"In the same way that we see terrestrially that it's rare now that you find a new technological device that doesn't connect to the internet, that is somehow part of that broader ecosystem, I think we'll find as we go into space that same thing will happen," he told attendees of the Small Satellite Conference during a keynote address.

Shaw credited small satellites for "leading the charge on that," noting the multiple satellites that make up a constellation need to talk with one another. From there, he said, "it's not much of a jump" to expand that connection outward.

Meanwhile, Shaw said SPACECOM officials are working to implement "cyber resilience for our space capabilities" to shore up any potential vulnerabilities from threats. Saying "it's only a matter of time" until the space domain witnesses a ransomware attack on a commercial space system or an infiltration of a commercial constellation's command and control system, he stressed the need for officials to be focused on those "significant threats."

"Anyone who has been working with U.S. Space Command or U.S. Space Force or another part of the Department of Defense on space capabilities, you know we are continually asking, 'How is this going to be cyber resilient? How are you building in at the beginning, at the very beginning, how are you baking in cyber defense mechanisms into your capability that you're building?'" he said. "We can't do future space capabilities without acknowledging the cutting edge of cyber, both the threats but also the defenses and the capabilities there that need to be woven in."

As the space domain moves further toward autonomy, Shaw said he expects decisions about the number of humans involved in certain operations will depend on what a given satellite or architecture is doing and what its mission set entails.

Anticipating "the vast majority of what a satellite will do on a day-in and day-out basis will be on its own," he proposed the question going forward may be, "What do you need humans for?"

Separately, Shaw said autonomy is needed to ensure "whatever capabilities or effects or services that we're providing from space down to the terrestrial domains are happening as swiftly and without interruption as possible."