Air Force Space Command on Aug. 21 issued a white paper that makes the case for incorporating disaggregated space architectures as one means of bolstering the resiliency of US space systems in the face of growing threats. “Disaggregation is an innovative opportunity to stay ahead of our adversaries, to change their targeting calculus, and to mitigate the effects of a widespread attack on our space assets,” states the document. This approach, it continues, “offers the possibility to increase technology refresh opportunities, improve requirements discipline, increase launch and space industrial base stability, increase affordability, and improve deterrence.” The white paper puts forth the following definition for space disaggregation: “The dispersion of space-based missions, functions, or sensors across multiple systems spanning one or more orbital plane, platform, host, or domain.” Disaggregation would have value whether the threat is a hostile adversary, or an environmental threat like orbital debris, states the document. The white paper also calls for planners to consider disaggregation at an enterprise level, including connecting nodes, ground systems, command and control, and launch vehicle architecture.
The F-47 fighter will be run differently than previous fighter programs and share the same mission systems architecture as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That means advances in one will fuel advances in the other.