How next-gen ground systems will help US space agencies win the new space race

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 a plethora of private entities venturing to the final frontier.

“It’s ironic to say this, but it's getting crowded up there,” says Virginia “Ginny” Cevasco, a senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton and leader in the company’s classified space business. “There are just so many more satellites and vehicles of all kinds, and much more debris along with that, that we have to navigate.”

Since claiming victory in the first space race, the U.S. has remained a top power in space exploration. But today’s proliferation of spacecraft—largely satellites, spurred by the popularity of SmallSats and satellite constellation systems—is 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.

“Space has to be for everybody who inhabits the planet and we want everyone, ideally, to have the benefits we have from being in space,” explains Cevasco. “The 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.”

Michelle Harper, a Booz Allen leader who aids the United States Space Force (USSF) in key digital transformation initiatives, notes that even though space may seem far removed from issues on the ground, potential conflict is a pressing concern.

“We don’t have the time we used to, to prepare for this [contested space environment],” she says. “It is real, and we have to get capabilities 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.”

To keep their tactical edge in today’s space age and adhere to initiatives like the Defense Department’s recent Commercial Space Integration Strategy, military and civilian space agencies must harness the private sector’s advances.

“Only about 20 years ago government controlled space 100%; today, it's less than 20%,” notes Karen Fields, who leads the NASA account at Booz Allen. “The commoditization of space is a reality now and we have to make sure the government is keeping up with the commercial side.”

Data-driven ground systems and solutions for modern space challenges

As a decades-long trusted government partner, Booz Allen combines its breadth of mission experience with commercial innovation to develop resilient, virtual, and automated space ground systems 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.

“We have a lot of experience building things for the tactical edge and other domains and were able to transfer that over,” says Cevasco. “It's allowed us to really pull the best of what we do in a larger sense and target it to our space needs.”

For example, when developing the cloud architecture for its ground systems, Booz Allen harvested architectural features it used to support the reinvention of Recreation.gov—turning the federal website into a modern, scalable, cloud-native platform to manage millions of reservations for national parks and landmarks. With the platform’s core capabilities, space systems can process data securely, as well as facilitate a large number of operations and users simultaneously at scale. 

“That project really gave us a jump on getting those systems into the cloud,” notes Cevasco. 

Additionally, in the wake of near-constant, sophisticated cyberattacks directed at government entities, Harper states that space related ground systems could be a target in the near future. 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 is top priority for Booz Allen to maintain data integrity, ensure operations run effectively—no matter the circumstances—and bolster infrastructure against disruptions.

“We have to have resiliency at peace and at war if we are going to remain a true power,” Harper says. “Managing 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.”

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

As the largest provider of AI to the federal government, Booz Allen is actively seeking new ways to deploy the technology in space. Just recently, the company celebrated several successful interactions with a large language model (LLM) it deployed on the International Space Station laboratory.

“We believe we are the first to put an LLM into space,” says Cevasco. “That's 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're all starting to get used to using AI assistance down here on Earth; it's no different up there.”

Moving forward, government expectations for space travel will only increase, especially as agencies endeavor to explore more orbits like geostationary orbit (GEO) and cislunar areas. Booz Allen is forging ahead, pulling on its extensive portfolio to future-proof systems and solve pressing challenges, including latency, so agencies can confidently send vehicles into uncharted territory.

“No matter how hard we try to plan for it, it seems like the missions get bigger and last longer than we originally thought. To stay prepared we need to build systems that can scale and self-heal from the problems that may occur on orbit,” says Cevasco.

Creating a collaborative and sustainable future

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

“For 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,” she explains. “The 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.”

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

“Booz Allen 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—and furthering—the technology,” says Fields. “We're also developing the workforce that can bring these capabilities to the whole space community.”

Learn more about how Booz Allen’s ground systems allow agencies to safely navigate space.

Ginny Cevasco is a leader in the national security space business at Booz Allen.

Karen Fields leads the NASA account at Booz Allen.

Michelle Harper is a leader in the Space Force space business for Booz Allen in modern software development, Data Operations and Artificial Intelligence.