The Elara Edge

In 2009, an on-orbit collision between a defunct Russian satellite and an Iridium communications satellite created more than 1,800 pieces of debris and signaled an emerging need for a space traffic system. Since then, space has only become more congested with the rise of a commercial launch market that has enabled affordable access to space for commercial, civil and military space programs alike. 

The resulting influx of satellites on-orbit inspired the signing of Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3) during the first Trump administration, which declared the need for U.S. leadership in establishing a space traffic system to mitigate the risk of on-orbit collisions through a coordinated data-sharing effort between the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Commerce. This joint effort produced a new program, the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS), which late last year achieved initial operating capability in cataloging assets on-orbit and delivering space situational awareness (SSA) to spacecraft operators. 

In this episode of "The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security," Elara Nova partner Col (Ret) Charlie McGillis, former director of intelligence at 14th Air Force (Space), describes how TraCSS has emerged as a leading solution for space traffic coordination in an increasingly congested and contested domain, and enables a foundation for future space capabilities and mission areas that serve both economic and national security purposes. McGillis currently serves as a member of the TraCSS Independent Review Board and is also the Vice President, Public Sector, at The Provenance Chain Network.

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of a new, special edition series: "The Elara Epilogues," where the space industry’s leading journalists and authors will join Elara Nova partners to discuss their published work covering today’s ever-evolving space environment. 

In today's episode, Founding Partner Mike Dickey, former chief architect of the United States Space Force is joined by Christian Davenport, space industry and NASA reporter for The Washington Post. Together, they’ll discuss Christian’s 2018 book: “The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos.” "The Space Barons" catalogues the rise of today’s commercial space industry, through the lens of the billionaires who founded - and funded - their own space companies at its outset.

But the conversation won’t stop there, as Christian shares a few teasers from his forthcoming book: “Rocket Dreams: Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race.” The new book, “Rocket Dreams,” is set to be released in the fall of 2025 and picks back up where “The Space Barons” concluded seven years ago.

"The Elara Epilogues," is presented by "The Elara Edge" Expert Insights on Space Security."

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

The United States Space Force allocated $35 million to the Space Power & Propulsion for Agility, Responsiveness & Resilience - or SPAR - Institute to develop nuclear-powered systems for spacecraft propulsion. 

The Institute demonstrates the latest effort by the Space Force, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to explore nuclear fission as an energy source in space. If successful, nuclear energy can enable the Space Force to “maneuver without regret,” among other capabilities. 

In this episode of, “The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security,” Elara Nova partners Donna Dickey, an aerospace engineer with decades of experience at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Dr. Brad Tousley, former director of the Tactical Technology Office at DARPA, and Dr. Tom Cooley, former chief scientist at AFRL, explore the past, present, and future of nuclear propulsion in space.

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

The United States Space Force requested $29.4 billion for Fiscal Year 2025, a two percent drop from the previous year. The final budget, however, has yet to be passed as the federal government operates under a continuing resolution. The Space Force was founded in response to the actions of near-peer competitors in space that threaten the United States’ national and economic security. But now, any decline in funding, compounded by the inherent restrictions that come with continuing resolutions and even the Department of Defense's (DOD) traditional approach to building its budget, are compromising the very purpose for which the Space Force was founded.

In this episode of, “The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security,” Gen (Ret) John Hyten, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Senior Principal Advisor at Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy, and Lt Gen (Ret) Nina Armagno, the first Director of Staff at the United States Space Force and Executive Director of International Partnerships at Elara Nova, discuss the challenges and solutions to effectively resourcing the Space Force through the DOD budget. 

This episode follows an Opinion Editorial, co-written by Gen Hyten and Gen Armagno and recently published by SpaceNews, in which they argue the time is now for reallocating resources away from outdated legacy programs and toward the space-based threat. 

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

China’s advancements in quantum technology have triggered a call-to-action for the United States to accelerate their own investments in quantum research and development. According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Critical Technology Tracker, China surpassed the United States in published quantum research in 2021. 

In response, the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) is similarly advocating for more research and development to support quantum technologies in space, specifically to reinforce the Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) mission.  

In this episode of, “The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security,” Founding Partner Maj Gen (Ret) Kim Crider and partner Lt Gen (Ret) Harry Raduege identify quantum sensor technologies and reinforce why the QED-C’s 2024 report called for greater research and development efforts to apply these emerging technologies to the United States Space Force’s Precision, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) mission.

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

Ms. Katharine Kelley, the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Human Capital with the United States Space Force, recently announced the military’s newest service was engaged in a pilot program called the Defense Civilian Training Corps (DCTC). While similar to the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), the DCTC is a congressionally mandated initiative to streamline university graduates into civilian careers at the Department of Defense (DOD). 

While the DCTC exemplifies how the government is initiating partnerships with academia from the top down, grassroots efforts like certificate programs at engineering schools are preparing to engage the Space Force from the bottom up. All together, these initiatives demonstrate how the Space Force can engage academic institutions to foster the workforce it needs among its civilian employees, active-duty Guardians and industry partners. 

In this episode of, “The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security,” Elara Nova partner Dr. B.T. Cesul provides insight into DCTC and other alternative education programs that are emerging to cultivate the space workforce of the future. 

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

In November 2022, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering commissioned the Defense Science Board (DSB) to study the commercial space market and how their systems can be leveraged to support Department of Defense (DOD) objectives.

The study came in direct response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year, when commercial space systems provided critical capabilities in support of Ukraine’s defense. However, the use of these commercial space systems in Ukraine was not planned in advance, but rather occurred organically at the onset of the invasion.

Now, the DOD wants to apply the lessons learned in Ukraine to capitalize on similar opportunities to integrate commercial space capabilities into their own military requirements.

In this episode of, “The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security,” Mike Dickey, Founding Partner at Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy, joins Dr. Brad Tousley, a partner at Elara Nova and member of the Defense Science Board (DSB), to explore the DSB's "Final Report on Commercial Space System Access and Integrity," which offers a pathway toward integrating commercial space capabilities into military planning and requirements. 

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

Over the past decade, China’s rapid rise in adopting and deploying innovative technologies has sparked a new “Great Power Competition,” particularly in the space domain. According to Major General Gregory J Gagnon, the chief intelligence officer for the United States Space Force, China’s “strategic breakout” in space is evident by the country’s more than 1,000 satellites on-orbit today, and a demonstrated capacity to launch over 200 satellites each year. 

Meanwhile, the budgetary process for the Department of Defense (DOD) - known as the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution or PPBE - is increasingly unable to keep up with the rapid innovations of modern technology. That's why in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act - or NDAA - Congress mandated a Commission on PPBE Reform to deliver guidance for modernizing the DOD’s budgetary process. 

In this episode of, “The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security,” Elara Nova partner Shawn Barnes, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Congressional Budget and Appropriations Liaison, provides insight and analysis on the Commission on PPBE Reform's Final Report and how the inevitable change in administration after the 2024 election presents both promise and peril for implementing its recommendations to deliver space superiority for the warfighter.

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

It's been one year since Chief of Space Operations, General B. Chance Saltzman, announced the United States Space Force was creating “Integrated Mission Deltas,” or IMDs, as part of the service's Line of Effort #3 – Partner to Win edict. The new IMD model serves as a primary example of how the Space Force is leveraging partnerships internally to enhance readiness within specific space mission areas.

But the military's newest service is also leveraging partnerships externally, as well. The Space Force is currently assessing its relationship to the various Combatant Commands - including a review of what future space component to United States Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) might look like.

Now, this revitalized emphasis on partnerships is spreading to other elements of the Department of Defense (DOD).  In recognition of the inherently interconnected space and cyber domains, CYBERCOM entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to streamline the development and adoption of innovative cybersecurity technologies against an ever-evolving near-term threat.

In this episode of "The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security," Maj Gen (Ret) Kim Crider, Founding Partner at Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy, is joined by Lt Gen (Ret) Kevin McLaughlin, Partner at Elara Nova, to explain how the innovative IMD model demonstrates one of the many ways the Space Force – and the DOD writ large – is initiating new partnerships to ensure mission readiness across time horizons to be responsive to the threat. 

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

SpaceWERX, the space innovation arm of AFWERX, recently announced the nine recipients of its first funding opportunity specifically tailored to bring space capabilities across the ‘Valley of Death,’ or the difficult transition of scaling a high-potential capability into a formal program of record. 

The funding opportunity comes through two programs: the Strategic Funding Increase or (STRATFI) and the Tactical Funding Increase or (TACFI). STRATFI and TACFI are designed to accelerate funding for start-ups and small businesses already receiving Small Business Innovation Research or (SBIR) grants, by matching those grants with additional funds from the Department of Defense (DOD) and private capital partners - an influx of cash that can help these businesses develop these capabilities and overcome the Valley of Death.  

Now, AFWERX is leveraging these funding programs through its SpaceWERX division to accelerate the acquisition of space capabilities for the warfighter. 

In this episode of "The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security," Elara Nova founding partner Maj Gen (Ret) Roger Teague is joined by fellow partners Rear Adm (Ret) Boris Becker and Jim Sullivan to discuss how Valley of Death challenges affect start-ups and small businesses in the emerging space industry and how the STRATFI/TACFI Programs aim to catalyze funding to find, fund and field space capabilities for the warfighter.

"The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.