WASHINGTON – Difficulty acquiring propulsion systems, radiation-hardened components and laser communications systems continue to vex satellite manufacturers.
“Supply chains are critical to both speed and scale for proliferated architectures,” David Gauthier, chief strategy officer for consulting firm GXO Inc., said March 10 at the Satellite 2025 conference. “Reliable supply is fundamental for a healthy and vibrant industrial base that enables government space missions.”
To cope with ongoing supply-chain bottlenecks, space radar imaging company Capella Space maintains an inventory.
“Propulsion systems, antennas, reaction wheels, every component of the satellite that you can imagine, solar panels and such, we have to do a continuous ordering cycle,” said Capella CEO Frank Backes.
Mitigating supply chain risks by maintaining extensive inventory requires capital. It can also be risky for a company like Capella that revises satellite designs about every 18 months.
“We carry three, four or five satellites worth of inventory on a continuous basis now,” Backes said. “The challenge with that is, as soon as you bring the inventory in house, the clock is ticking on whether or not it is the right inventory for the future satellite that you’re trying to build.”
Competition for Components
For Maxar Intelligence, many technologies needed for its Earth-imaging satellites are in demand.
Space-hardened electronics like focal-plane arrays, artificial-intelligence processors and inertial navigation systems “are big drivers in what we can produce and when we can produce it,” said Matt Jenkins Maxar Intelligence chief space systems officer. “We’re currently faced with a situation where there’s a lot of competition out there for some of these components.”
In terms of solutions, “there are no silver bullets,” Jenkins said.
To tackle the problem will require addressing shortages of component as well as the raw materials.
“The government could establish strategic reserves of key critical materials like helium, xenon and other items for propulsion systems,” Jenkins said.
Or, because government programs often move slowly, “maybe bringing some commercial partnership to bear to address these problems would be a more appropriate way to do things,” Jenkins said. “Bring a little speed and efficiency, get us out of the antiquated 1964 manned mission to the moon phase into something a little bit more AI-facing and technologically advanced.”
Loan Guarantees
Two initiatives aimed at alleviating supply chain woes come from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC). Through a partnership with the Small Business Administration, OSC offers debentures, a form of debt, for funds that invest in companies that manufacture early-stage critical technologies.
“Once these funds are licensed, it unlocks access to debt and gives companies access to the Department of Defense’s leading experts in various technologies,” said Reza Nikfarjam, OSC credit program deputy director.
A 2024 defense spending bill also authorized OSC to provide loan-guarantees. Loans with a total value of approximately $1 billion will support supply chains for 31 critical technologies including spacecraft, space launch, space-enabled services, additive manufacturing, microelectronics and solar panels.
Launch Constraints
Supply chain bottlenecks affect the launch market because companies cannot commit to flying on SpaceX rideshares unless they are confident their satellites will be completed in time.
“The longer we can plan for the launch in advance, the lower the cost for that launch becomes,” Backes said. “If we have a short-term launch turnaround, we would have to go to a much more expensive launch provider.”
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) seeks to alleviate one launch-related constraint: lack of infrastructure.
Through partnerships with allies including Australia and New Zealand, DIU officials are identifying launch sites for future projects, said U.S. Army Major Major, Robert Perez-Alemany, DIU space portfolio program manager. “DIU is trying to find strong partnerships with these allies to ensure that we have unlimited supply [of sites] to go into space.”
