Science & Technology for national security with Lisa Porter

Acquisition Talk

Lisa Porter joined Jordan Schneider and I for a discussion about Science & Technology (S&T) in the national security arena. She is co-president of LOGIQ, a consulting company, and before that was deputy director of USD(R&E), founding director of IARPA, executive vice president of In-Q-Tel, and senior vice president of Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, among various other positions. We touch on: - How the error correction of free markets is absent in DoD - A round of overrated/underrated on critical S&T areas - The split of AT&L into USD(R&E) and USD(A&S) - How successful government organizations empower their staff - Why the US lost it's dominance in space launch During the episode, Porter discusses how many people in national security misunderstand the phrase "space as a warfighting domain." The popular imagination brings up ideas of spacecraft moving dynamically such as in Star War or Battlestar Galactica, but that ignores physical realities. It takes a lot of time and propellant for satellites to move from one orbit to another, or to avoid kinetic threats, as demanded by the Law of the Conservation of Energy. The near-term focus for warfighting in space is about smart investments in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), such as space situational awareness, missile tracking, resilient communications, and proliferation of spacecraft. Porter cites the Space Development Agency as one example where good headway is being made in these areas, particularly proliferation where they are trying to prove whether spacecraft production can be increased from once every few years to tens or ultimately hundreds per year. One major issue that Porter doesn't see enough emphasis from is continuous upgrading and replenishment of spacecraft. There is not yet enough cost-effective capacity to perform the task. While the commercial industry is investing heavily in launch, DoD has not yet provided a clear requirement or funding for the replenishment mission over the next five-to-ten years to signal its importance to industry. This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. You can follow us on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at AcquisitionTalk.com.