The President, the Secretary of War, and the Chief of Space Operations are all saying it: We no longer have the luxury of time. This isn’t rhetoric. It is a direct response to a fundamental change in our strategic and geopolitical environment. The Department is on a wartime footing. For those in the business of space acquisition, this means taking on more calculated risks in the development cycle to reduce the grave operational risks our warfighters face in theater.
Think of the military operations Midnight Hammer, Absolute Resolve and the ongoing Operation Epic Fury. All were executed with exacting precision and underpinned by the space capabilities we design and deliver.
Today, urgency is the mandate. On the government side, we recognize that what we used to do worked for the geopolitical landscapes of the past, but today we are transforming our culture to one of speed and execution. We are not just asking — but demanding — the same of our commercial partners. Our focus is on performance, accountability and the relentless delivery of game-changing capabilities on cost and on schedule.
What does this mean for industry?
Opportunity. Our policy is commercial first. We are reducing regulations and modernizing incentives to leverage the industry’s speed and innovation. Leaning into commercial-off-the-shelf options, dual-use technologies and emerging fields. Expanding collaborative sandboxes with academia and private industry. Phasing out non-recurring engineering and adopting modern software acquisition pathways. We will only pursue government-unique solutions when absolutely necessary.
Competition. Our approach is production first, with iterative tech development inside integrated production units. We will deliver final capabilities in operational increments. We will re-compete proliferated constellations every three to five years to drive innovation.
Speed with discipline. We are holding both government program managers and industry partners accountable for delivering integrated systems on operationally relevant timelines. Already, 25 major programs have been restructured or canceled for failing to align with our tenets.
Facilitated funding. We are removing barriers by embracing commercial solutions and venture capital. We’ve awarded over $700 million through Strategic Funding Increase/Tactical Funding Increase STRATFI/TACFI, matched by $1.9 billion in private funds, and increased the use of Other Transaction Authority contracts by 470%.
But the clearest demand signal is in the budget and on the battlefield. They are a direct reflection of what we are asking our systems, our guardians, and our partners to do every single day.
And this brings us to the crux of the matter: our ask of industry.
We are not just asking you to bid on our programs. We are asking you to make a strategic business decision to invest in our shared national security. Invest in your factories. Expand your production lines. Upgrade your tooling. Invest in the physical capacity to build space systems at a scale this nation has not seen in generations. This must be coupled with investment in your digital infrastructure, model-based systems engineering, in digital twins, in automated testing and, perhaps most importantly, in your people.
The goal is to go from contract award to launch in months, not years.
I know this is a heavy lift that requires significant capital. But the demand signal is real, it’s loud and it’s coming fast. This is the new baseline for our wartime footing. An investment in your production capacity is a direct investment in our collective security. Secretary Pete Hegseth said it best: “Our adversaries are not sitting idly by… they’re developing and delivering new capabilities at a rate that should be sobering to every American.”
There is no winning equation without our industry partners. Together, by recognizing the undeniable strategic demand and investing in our defense industrial base, we can ensure we outpace the threat. Our continued partnership is what will keep the space domain free and our nation safe. The fight for the future is here, and we must meet it together.
Space Force Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant is commander of Space Systems Command.
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