Fred Kennedy, director of the Space Development Agency, told SpaceNews in an interview published Monday about the agency’s plans to transform how the military builds and procures space systems.
“I wanted to call it the Space Disruption Agency,†he said. “How we do things in space has to change.â€
Kennedy discussed his plans to come up with a next-generation space architecture by partnering with commercial vendors that would build and deploy hundreds or thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit in support of the Department of Defense across multiple mission areas.
“The first thing I’m going to do is refine my architecture by the end of this fiscal year,†Kennedy said. “I have an architecture in mind and it’s comprehensive. It’s not just one mission area.â€
He mentioned the agency’s potential collaboration with the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, plans to develop LEO-based alternatives to conventional satellite networks in higher orbits and the agency’s role in the development of a space sensor layer to detect and monitor hypersonic weapons.
The agency plans to hire approximately 20 employees in 2019. Kennedy said he expects the agency to operate with about 112 military and government civilian personnel.
