00:00Space has evolved. Space is no longer a benign environment. It is extremely contested.
00:06Over the past decade, countries like Russia, China and India have tested anti-satellite weapons,
00:12sparking international concerns about the vulnerability of critical space systems
00:17essential to our daily lives. With ambitions to colonize Mars and discover new life forms,
00:22space remains a domain of exploration, but it has also become a contested frontier.
00:28The U.S. Space Force was established in 2019, becoming the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces
00:37under the Air Force. Its mission is to secure our nation's interests in, from, and to space.
00:43To accomplish the mission of space superiority, we have proposed a theory of success called
00:48competitive endurance. This theory includes three key tenets, avoiding operational surprise,
00:54threats, denying first-mover advantage, and conducting responsible counter-space activities.
01:00As the players and threats in space evolve, how is the U.S. trying to stay ahead?
01:08Tell us a little bit about how you think space itself is going to evolve as a battleground and
01:13as, of course, an opportunity in the next few years.
01:16Yes, so space has evolved. Space is no longer a benign environment. It is extremely contested.
01:22Our adversaries, they understand our reliance on space and they are taking deliberate
01:26actions to develop capabilities such as anti-satellite weapons to degrade American advantage. That's serious.
01:32Space Force manages more than 75 satellites. In 2024, they had more than 10 types of satellites in operation.
01:39Do you use internet connectivity at all? Do you leverage the internet?
01:42Yes, I do.
01:43The answer is yes. We've talked about this. Do you leverage weather data at all?
01:48When you're on those long flights, do you connect to the internet, the Wi-Fi over the internet?
01:52That's space. GPS and navigation systems are also space. Critical capabilities that we use
01:58every day in our life rely on space-based capabilities.
02:02An anti-satellite weapon can disable these satellites through radiation or electromagnetic pulses,
02:08threatening both U.S. military and commercial systems. That's why Space Force is turning to AI as
02:14one of the tools to help tackle this issue.
02:16So we are embracing all artificial intelligence. So we are leveraging any capability that allows us to
02:22make decisions faster to be able to take care of our guardians and airmen, our allies, as well as our
02:28partners. Let me talk a little bit about moon shots, because the original space race, of course,
02:32was to get to the moon. What is the moon shot today from where you sit?
02:37Space domain awareness. We need the ability to be able to see the different activities that are
02:43taking place in space. So one of our top priorities for artificial intelligence integration is leveraging
02:48it for space domain awareness so we can see the various activities taking place in the domain.
02:54With regard to AI, talk a little bit about even trust and how much you empower to AI and how much you
03:01empower to humans.
03:03We will always have humans in the loop, especially when it comes to high state environment. We'll
03:08leverage artificial intelligence where appropriate. I think one key area that we are looking at is how
03:14do we leverage artificial intelligence to help streamline business functions. So from human resources to
03:21travel requests, etc. Space Force received just $30 billion out of an $842 billion defense budget in
03:302024. But responding to these threats isn't just about funding. It's about leveraging the right
03:36capabilities. That's why collaboration is critical. So we've seen a lot of commercial actors go into
03:43space. I'm thinking both, you know, there's Jeff Bezos, of course, Elon Musk, you know, many,
03:48many others. What impact has that had just on the landscape, but also, you know, the ability of
03:54Space Force to do its job? Yes. So we depend a great deal on our commercial partners. We know that
03:59we cannot do it alone. We have to work with industry partners. We have to work with the commercial
04:04sector. We also have to work with academia. And there are a lot of opportunities and we will partner with
04:09the most data AI capable organizations to help us deliver on our mission, which is to protect and defend
04:14the space dummy. This commercial collaboration in space can have real-time impacts on the ground as
04:20well. United States, our allies and our commercial companies are using space-based capabilities to help
04:28provide intelligence and surveillance support to the Ukrainian military. During the Russia-Ukraine war,
04:34jammers from both sides disrupted each other's operations. Starlink has been the cornerstone of the
04:39command and control software used by the armed forces of Ukraine to exchange data and coordinate
04:45military actions. As more players enter the space race, the orbits above Earth are getting increasingly
04:51congested. So, Chandra, how much junk is there up there? Millions. There is a lot. There are various
04:57websites where you can go look at publicly available information to see how many objects are in space,
05:02but millions of objects are in space from a debris perspective. In a domain shaped by rising threats and
05:08rapid innovation, the Space Force is focused on maintaining awareness, building resilience and
05:14partnering across sectors to ensure the U.S. can compete and endure in the new space era.
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