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The first people to spot the Russian invasion of Ukraine were actually on
the other side of the globe.
Before Putin had ever said anything about his assault a group of academics
in California noticed an unusual buildup of traffic at the border and
concluded correctly that the invasion had begun.
How did they do it?
Using satellite technology.
Six months ago I left active duty with the Marine Corps and
joined a defense technology startup in Washington DC.
I was surprised when they asked me to help build a military space strategy.
I didn't know anything about space.
I could barely tell you the difference between star wars and star Trek.
I did want to be an astronaut as a kid but if you're afraid of
roller coasters you're probably scared of rocket ships too.
I did learn that summer that for the US space is considered the ultimate
high ground and as a result we've already militarized it quite a bit.
Above us right now there are enough satellites to take a picture
of every square meter of the planet multiple times a day.
In 2023 the US is planning to field a space based laser that's next year.
But guess who else is militarizing space Russia and China.
As a Marine officer I can tell you we're in a dead sprint and
no one is settling for a second.
But here's what concerns me using space to find better
ways to kill each other is easy.
What's harder is using space constructively to lift all boats and
not just deep in great power competition.
Space is supposed to be the final frontier so
is militarizing the hell out of it the best that we can do?
Maybe there's a better way this past quarter I took a class called
Climate Ventures.
Where I teamed up with aeronautics and
astronautics students to explore ways that space technology can solve climate change.
During our research I found this really interesting company called GHG Set.
They're using satellite based radar technology to visually
identify methane emissions across the planet.
The first time we've ever been able to do that.
Another company another approach sponsored by Harvard University and
backed by Bill Gates uses a different approach.
They use space technology to spray fine particles into the upper atmosphere and
scatter sunlight and actually cause global cooling.
That would be a game changer for global warming but
climate change is just an example.
I think that space technology has the ability to solve many
problems in many industries for the benefit of all of us.
And it would be great if commercial space was on par with military space.
But there's two problems with that first those space is technically infinite.
We're actually running out of it really fast between 90 to 600 miles above
the planet is a sweet spot where 90% of satellites have been deployed.
We call this low earth orbit or
LEO 90 to 600 miles sounds like a lot.
But in LEO satellites don't sit still they actually move and orbit.
So instead of picturing a dot that surrounds the planet you
should actually picture a ring that goes around it instead.
In 2021 the UN estimated that there were 7500 satellites in LEO.
That's a lot of rings it creates a real traffic jam on this case a space Jam.
What makes it more complicated is that when satellites collide with each other or
when they reach the end of their useful life they actually get stuck.
Because we don't yet know how to remove space debris.
So when broken satellites and debris are in space and
LEO they create a higher likelihood for more accidents.
Which creates more debris and it's a vicious cycle.
It's hard to tell how much space is left in LEO but we're definitely running out.
This leads to the second problem.
Because space technology is so expensive defense has an outsized
voice in how commercial space dollars are being spent.
Sure SpaceX is $100 billion company but
when the government is spending $54 billion on space per
year it's hard to ignore them in your business case.
Military organizations like Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office
are also outsourcing their space technology to the commercial sector.
So even though it looks like a lot of money is flowing into the commercial
sector into commercial space it's often just a Trojan horse for
more military spending.
Personally I completely understand why the US is rushing to militarize space.
And if I'm being honest I understand why Russia and China are doing the same.
But great power competition doesn't benefit humanity.
What benefits humanity in space is combating climate change or
frankly any use of commercial space.
So I'm here to sound the alarm.
The world's militaries are filling space up fast and
the opportunity to shift the trajectory of the space industry is shrinking.
So what now?
If you're someone whose relationship with space is primarily just watching
Guardians of the Galaxy you still have a very important role to play.
We need to demonstrate both an awareness of and a demand for
commercial uses of space technology.
And not just for climate change but also for
agriculture finance Urban studies maritime activity and even politics.
Space technology has come so far but
unless you're in the military you probably don't know about it.
But now that you all do you can help amplify the demand for
commercial space technology.
Start by exploring the imagery that's been collected by satellite companies.
Any Stanford student has access to the historical database of planet.
One of the largest space companies with nearly 500 satellites in
Low Earth Orbit and LEO and data going back to 1972.
I challenge you all to use this data and
show us something constructive that you can build with space technology.
Planets historical database is available to MIT and ASU students as well.
But I urge planet and all satellite imagery companies to make their data
available to everyone and open source.
Imagine the scientific doors that we could collectively unlock.
By demonstrating a groundswell of demand and finding nobel
ways to use space technology that no one has ever seen before.
You can help ensure that the future direction of the space industry is
equally influenced by commercial needs as well as military needs.
And avoid the over militarization of space.
I'll leave you with one last story two days ago Russia
severed the Internet in Ukraine.
A classic military move to disable your opponent's command and control.
It looked like a crippling blow but within 24 hours Elon Musk
announced that Starlink a satellite based Internet service
provider would now be online in the Ukraine for the first time.
Picture that space not just an extension of our
earthly conflicts but instead a solution for them.
A way to resolve what we're doing to each other here that is the power of space.
Thank you.
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