How We Can Shape a Future Vision for Space Together

The following is an excerpt from my remarks at Lockheed Martin’s Destination: 2050 Event in Washington, D.C.

I recently had the opportunity to gather with industry peers, customers, non-traditional partners, think tanks, key decision-makers, and academia to talk about what the future of the space industry could look like. Our event, Destination: Space 2050, showcased innovation at scale while sparking a dialog about the potential of the possible.

The kind of questions we are asking ourselves is how to balance the relationship between new technologies, policy integration and the future workforce. Some of these advancements will be evolutionary – and others revolutionary – but we are always evaluating and adjusting.

During this event, I highlighted three key areas where we can come together to leverage the technologies of today and drive the future of space into the year 2050:

Technology Demonstrations and Maturing Capabilities

As more and?more countries rely on space?– we are looking to solve the complex challenges that come with more assets and increased access to new orbits. That is why we are committing to a robust cadence of technology demonstrations and exploring partnerships with other businesses to move new capabilities forward before we deploy them in a program of record. ?

A Focus on Speed – Through AI and New Technologies

We have to go faster. A driver of speed can be partnering with new customers to move faster but another is leveraging the latest technology to speed design and development. For example, we will continue to evaluate the tasks and actions that humans perform and work to integrate machine learning and?AI?to automate wherever and whenever possible. By leveraging human-in-the-loop practices, we will be able to support new missions and strengthen our national security position. These new technologies will help us deliver with the speed our customers expect – while that speed is just one piece of the overall puzzle.??

Driving Resiliency

There may be different definitions of what resiliency means – but we are evaluating all elements. For some, it is cyber security and others it is a distributed architecture, but part of shaping the future is keeping all these needs in mind. Imagine a day when we can leverage true?ubiquitous connectivity with resiliency built-in to execute on?21st Century Security?priorities and provide even greater protection for our service men and women.

But to get to the future, we must start today. At Lockheed Martin, we?always start with the end in mind?– and that means focusing on our mission to protect, connect and explore, and ultimately bring people home. But, we cannot do it alone. Though we are providing a vision, this is not about what we will do as Lockheed Martin, but instead, it’s about how we can all come together as an industry to create a better future for all humanity – both on Earth and off our world.

I want to hear your thoughts! Share in the comments below what you see?in the realm of the possible and ways the space industry can drive meaningful change to get from where we are today to an even better 2050.

Watch the full speech from our Destination: Space 2050 event here.