Pentagon asks private companies to help secure space by enhancing satellite network

The companies will work collectively to build a secure military and commercial communication network.

UPDATED MAY 15, 2025

(L) Image of the Department of Defense that is a part of the Pentagon. (R) Satellite Dish Antenna To Communicate With Satellites. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L) Douglas Rissing; (R) Pallava Bagla)

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) of the Pentagon announced on May 12, 2025, that it has added over a dozen companies to its Hybrid Space Architecture (HSA) project. This is an initiative to tap commercial satellites and infrastructure for faster and secure transmission of battlefield data. The project is a collaboration between DIU, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the U.S. Space Force, and several other military organizations, per Space News. The DIU is based in Silicon Valley and collaborates with tech industries to aid with military needs, such as the HSA project.

The Pentagon, heaquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, is seen from the air on February 8, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Representative Photo by J. David Ake / Getty Images) — The Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, is seen from the air on February 8, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | J. David Ake)

Launched in 2022, the HSA included Earth-imaging satellite operators, broadband providers, and firms with a hand in cybersecurity, cloud computing, and quantum encryption. The new series of companies joining the project includes Capella Space, EdgeCortix, Eutelsat America Corp. OneWeb Technologies, Fairwinds Technologies and AST Space Mobile, Illumina Computing Group, Lockheed Martin Space, MapLarge, SES Space & Defense, Skycorp, SkyFi, Ursa Space, and Viasat. These companies are adding to a previous set of eight firms on board from 2022.

The International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavour's final sortie on May 23, 2011. (Representative Photo by Paolo Nespoli - ESA/NASA via Getty Images) — The International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavour's final sortie on May 23, 2011. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | ESA/NASA)

The set of eight companies comprised Aalyria Technologies, Anduril, Amazon Web Services, Amazon Kuiper, Astranis, ATLAS Space Operations, Google, Enveil, Palantir, Planet Labs, Microsoft, and SpiderOak. This initiative is connected to the Defense Department’s idea of Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, per Defense News. This concept wants to connect the military forces and their sharing of information, be it in the air, space, sea, land, or cyber sectors. This required a more secure and faster means of communication that could exist in various orbits.

An enhanced and processed image of the World based on the Geographic Lat-Lon Projection. (Representative Photo enhanced by maps4media via Getty Images) — An enhanced and processed image of the World based on the Geographic Lat-Lon Projection. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | maps4media)

Such a system could make use of cloud computing infrastructure that can collect, process, and distribute data from various sensors. The program has a set goal to be fully functional by 2026, and experts hope to start demonstrations later in the summer. “The HSA network has the potential to increase network resilience by employing multi-path routing of communications to optimize data transport and mitigate adverse effects caused by weather or other obstructions,” the DIU statement mentioned, as they focused on enhancing “real-time access to information.”

Rear view of three soldiers patrolling along the risky area. (Representative Photo by Virojt Changyencham / Getty Images) — Rear view of three soldiers patrolling along the risky area. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Virojt Changyencham)

For the planned demonstrations, the program team is working to launch a live network to aid the demo exercises and include warfighting concepts and tactics. This defense contract has a public-private partnership where companies shall make and test the prototypes and technologies. These works were aided financially, instead of being entirely funded, by the government, as per Space News. The firms are required to build and demonstrate various ways to gather, transmit, and process data that can be securely transmitted across the globe and delivered to military units.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stands as U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fly in a missing man formation on September 20, 2024. (Representative Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stands as U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fly in a missing man formation on September 20, 2024. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Kevin Dietsch)

Steve Butow, the lead of DIU's space portfolio, stated, "DIU's ability to rapidly integrate and deliver a hybrid space network architecture is testament to its process of allowing commercial innovators to solve complex problems at speed and scale by applying their solutions to DoD's problems." The success of these demonstrations will be a step forward in accessing tactical information without the burden of multiple radios and satellite terminals. It will help the department further realize its initiative of a resilient and hybrid space architecture to share data.