Paul ‘Rusty’ Thomas, Blackjack program manager, is determined to prove military satellites can be made faster and cheaper by leveraging commercial supply lines.

Three payloads will fly to low Earth orbit in late 2020 and early 2021 to start building an optically meshed network.

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Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...