无忧传媒

From powering financial transactions to forecasting weather and enabling global communication, space technology underpins the modern world. Given this critical influence, the scope of global space operations has significantly expanded in recent years, with dozens of countries and numerous private entities venturing to the final frontier.

鈥淚t鈥檚 ironic to say this, but it鈥檚 getting crowded up there,鈥� says Virginia 鈥淕inny鈥� Cevasco, a senior vice president at 无忧传媒 and leader in the company鈥檚 classified space business. 鈥淭here are just so many more satellites and vehicles of all kinds, and much more debris along with that, that we have to navigate.鈥�

Since claiming victory in the first space race, the U.S. has remained a top power in space exploration. But today鈥檚 proliferation of spacecraft鈥攍argely satellites, spurred by the popularity of听听and satellite constellation systems鈥攊s causing an already remote environment to become even more challenging to manage. And while many space assets are launched with benign intent, geopolitical tensions with well-equipped adversaries have turned space into a contested environment.

鈥淪pace has to be for everybody who inhabits the planet, and we want everyone, ideally, to have the benefits we have from being in space,鈥� explains Ginny. 鈥淭he hard part used to be just getting the assets up there safely. Now, we have to think about how we are going to protect those assets.鈥�

Michelle Harper, a 无忧传媒 leader who aids the United States Space Force (USSF) in critical digital transformation initiatives, notes that space may seem far removed from issues on the ground, but potential conflict is a pressing concern.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the time we used to to prepare for this [contested space environment],鈥� she says. 鈥淚t is real, and we have to get capabilities听deployed, use what we have to defend U.S. satellites, concurrent with the Low Earth Orbit commercial proliferation of satellites that are out there from hurting each other and taking each other out.鈥�

Military and civilian space agencies must harness the private sector's advances to keep their tactical edge in today鈥檚 space age and adhere to initiatives like the Defense Department鈥檚 recent听Commercial Space Integration Strategy.

鈥淥nly about 20 years ago, government controlled space 100%. Today, it's less than 20%,鈥� notes Karen Fields, who leads the NASA account at 无忧传媒. 鈥淭he commoditization of space is a reality now, and we have to make sure the government is keeping up with the commercial side.鈥�

As a decades-long trusted government partner, 无忧传媒 combines its breadth of mission experience with commercial innovation to develop resilient, virtual, and automated听space ground systems听that allow agencies to maintain consistent space domain awareness, monitor and outpace adversaries, and advance human exploration. Starting with a strong data foundation, the company builds systems with scalable, open-architecture cloud frameworks that seamlessly integrate with existing technology for quick modernization.

鈥淲e have a lot of experience building things for the tactical edge and other domains and were able to transfer that over,鈥� says Ginny. 鈥淚t's allowed us to really pull the best of what we do in a larger sense and target it to our space needs.鈥�

For example, when developing the cloud architecture for its ground systems, 无忧传媒 harvested architectural features it used to support the reinvention of听鈥攖urning the website into a modern, scalable, cloud-native platform to manage millions of reservations for national parks and landmarks. With the platform鈥檚 core capabilities, space systems can process data securely and simultaneously facilitate many operations and users at scale.听

鈥淭hat project really gave us a jump on getting those systems into the cloud,鈥� notes Ginny.听

Additionally, in the wake of near-constant, sophisticated cyberattacks directed at government entities, Michelle states that space-related ground systems could be a target soon. In a space conflict, adversaries will likely seek to launch information warfare by corrupting internal data communications or sending false information within ground systems in an attempt to veer missions off course.

Cyber and cloud resilience are top priorities for 无忧传媒 to maintain data integrity, ensure operations run effectively鈥攏o matter the circumstances鈥攁nd bolster infrastructure against disruptions.

鈥淲e have to have resiliency at peace and at war if we are going to remain a true power,鈥� Michelle says. 鈥淢anaging at the data level and managing resiliency in your cloud infrastructure is crucial. With those elements in place, you have the trusted and secure data foundation needed to implement artificial intelligence, which to me enables horizontal enterprise integration.鈥�

Most ground systems are strictly brick and mortar, often using outdated technologies vulnerable to attack. Seeing the limitations of this antiquated approach, 无忧传媒 develops ground systems that are virtualized and powered by intelligent capabilities that help the AI鈥檚 human counterparts oversee complex environments.

As the largest provider of AI to the federal government, 无忧传媒 is actively seeking new ways to deploy the technology in space. The company recently celebrated several successful interactions with a large language model (LLM) that was deployed to the International Space Station laboratory.

鈥淲e believe we are the first to put an LLM into space,鈥� says Ginny. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to give people working on the space station the ability to find information and get guidance on maintenance activities without having to reach Mission Control. We鈥檙e all starting to get used to using AI assistance down here on Earth; it鈥檚 no different up there.鈥�

Space is ultimately a shared domain, and sustaining its global benefits depends on collaboration and cooperation from everyone seeking to use it. Michelle highlights that part of their civil and defense customers鈥� work is establishing a coalition of allies from other governments and industry to ensure diplomacy and collective progress in space.

鈥淔or the last few years, leaders have been creating this sense of urgency geopolitically and in the U.S. that it's really important to keep the focus in space to maintain dominance,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭he first to market usually wins. The U.S. was first to market, but our nation needs to be first in coalition too, working with others in space so that development stays on a positive trajectory and doesn't end up hurting people on the ground.鈥�

By equipping government with the systems necessary to navigate the constantly evolving space landscape, 无忧传媒 is helping shape a safe and productive future for space operations and mission goals.

鈥溛抻谴�媒 has helped multiple agencies, whether defense, intel, or the civil side; we're at the forefront of modernization; and we're bringing ideas and capabilities to different agencies and investing in鈥攁nd furthering鈥攖he technology,鈥� says Karen. 鈥淲e're also developing the workforce that can bring these capabilities to the whole space community.鈥�