Space industry execs urge DoD to expand commercial funding in defense programs | Space

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s enthusiasm for commercial innovation isn’t backed by sufficient funding, space industry executives said Sept. 11.

These executives from venture-backed companies argued that while the Pentagon has created several initiatives to collaborate with private companies — such as the Defense Innovation Unit, the Office of Strategic Capital and SpaceWERX — these organizations focus heavily on seed funding and research-and-development contracts. What is lacking, they say, is a clear pathway for companies to move beyond R&D and secure funding to scale up production and become key suppliers in national defense.

John Serafini, CEO of the remote-sensing company HawkEye 360, said DoD has built mechanisms to engage with commercial enterprises but these efforts rarely lead to the kind of long-term, stable funding that traditional defense contractors enjoy. 

“The defense tech industry as a whole is at a crossroads,” he said during a panel discussion at the Global Aerospace Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Even when a commercial space technology is considered “operationally relevant,” the Pentagon is not helping companies scale up production, said Serafini. “We have to get to programs of record to enable capabilities at scale.”

Programs of record are acquisitions of products or services that have…