Defense Official Discusses Advantages of Proliferated Satellite Architecture in LEO

John Plumb, the assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said at the recent Aspen Security Conference in Colorado that the Department of Defense is working to ensure the resilience of its satellites.

To this end, the DOD has adopted an architecture involving proliferated satellites in low Earth orbit, which offers two advantages over the DOD’s previous approach, where only a few large and expensive satellites would be created and placed in geostationary orbit.

The first advantage of a proliferated architecture is that it offers the enemy a more difficult target to hit, Plumb explained.

The second advantage concerns the lifespan of the satellites. The previous architecture involves the creation of satellites meant to last for around two decades, meaning developers would have to anticipate technological requirements 20 years in the future.

The new architecture involves the creation of satellites meant to last three to five years only. This shorter timeframe makes it easier to anticipate needs and, according to Plumb, facilitates innovation, the DOD website reported.