From NASA to the Pentagon, Commercial Space Takes Center Stage in “Rocket Dreams"

From NASA to the Pentagon, Commercial Space Takes Center Stage in “Rocket Dreams"

Welcome back to another episode of "The Elara Epilogues," a special edition series by "The Elara Edge" podcast, where the space industry’s leading journalists and authors join Elara Nova partners to discuss their published work covering today’s ever-evolving space environment. In today's episode, Founding Partner Mike Dickey [https://elaranova.com/team-members/mike-dickey/], former Chief Architect of the United States Space Force, is once again joined by Christian Davenport [https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandavenport/], the former staff writer for The Washington Post and current CBS News Contributor. Together, they'll discuss Christian's 2025 book Rocket Dreams: Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/723905/rocket-dreams-by-christian-davenport/]. The book catalogues the commercial dynamics and geopolitical tensions underpinning the modern day space race to return to the moon.  Christian was previously on the show to discuss his 2018 book The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos, [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/christian-davenport/the-space-barons/9781610398305/?lens=publicaffairs] which explored the foundation of today's commercial space industry through the lens of the billionaires who founded - and funded - their own space companies at its outset. You can listen to that conversation, held in April 2024, here [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-elara-edge/id1718569040?i=1000703595704]. "The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here [https://elaranova.com/insights/]. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

Space Force Initiates a “Campaign of Learning” to Develop its Objective Force

This past spring the United States Space Force published two highly anticipated, forward-looking documents: Future Operating Environment 2040 [https://www.spaceforce.mil/Portals/2/Documents/SAF_2026/Future_Operating_Environment_2040.pdf] and Objective Force 2040 [https://www.spaceforce.mil/Portals/2/Documents/SAF_2026/OFD_2040_Baseline_Final.pdf]. When Chief of Space Operations General B. Chance Saltzman unveiled these documents at this year’s Space Symposium, he declared the service’s intention was for them to “drive questions, not provide answers.” [https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-2040-objective-force-future-operating-environment/?utm_campaign=dfn-ebb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sailthru] As such, Guardians, the Joint Force and the Space Force’s international and industry partners were encouraged to engage, debate and provide feedback in a ‘campaign of learning’ to evaluate what the future space domain might look like and define the Space Force’s future force design requirements.   In this month's episode of "The Elara Edge,” Founding Partner Mike Dickey and Executive Partner Lt Gen (Ret) Bill Liquori share their key takeaways from the Future Operating Environment 2040 and Objective Force 2040 documents released by the Space Force earlier this year at Space Symposium. Mike is the former Chief Architect of the United States Space Force and Bill is the first Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Strategy, Plans, Programs and Analysis for the Space Force.  "The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here [https://elaranova.com/insights/]. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

New Enterprise C2 Program Office to Enhance Commander Decision-Making

As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly adopted to streamline and enhance command and control, the Department of War is expected to announce a new program office that will coalesce and coordinate information and communication pipelines that will empower commanders to make more timely and effective decisions. While an official announcement is still forthcoming, DefenseScoop reported [https://defensescoop.com/2026/01/06/dod-enterprise-command-and-control-program-office/] that the new Enterprise Command and Control (C2) Program Office will oversee current AI and data platforms like Maven Smart System and Edge Data Mesh as part of a pending program of record for Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2). Collectively, this “Enterprise C2 Suite” will provide the latest iteration of technologies and tools available to commanders for command and control.   In this month's episode of "The Elara Edge,” Executive Partner Mark Chappell, retired Air Vice Marshall with the United Kingdom Armed Forces and former Senior British Military Advisor to U.S. Central Command, provides perspective on the forthcoming Enterprise C2 Program Office that will oversee the emerging technologies and procedures for command and control in a modern warfighting environment.  "The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here [https://elaranova.com/insights/]. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

Foreign Military Sales Reform to Strengthen International Cooperation

When a foreign partner seeks military technology from the U.S. defense industrial base, there’s two ways for them to acquire that capability: Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) and Foreign Military Sales (FMS). In DCS, the foreign country negotiates directly with the contractor. But in the FMS process, the United States government manages the sale and transfer of that technology with additional training and sustainment support in a way that strengthens international cooperation and the collective security of the United States and its allies.  But a recent surge in demand [https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/europes-dependence-us-foreign-military-sales-and-what-do-about-it] for military technologies from allies and partners is challenging the current FMS process [https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-fms-reform-case-load-spikes/] to keep up, resulting in two recent executive orders and a series of organizational changes to reform and modernize the Foreign Military Sales program.   In this month's episode of "The Elara Edge," Brad Head, Managing Director of International Partnerships at Elara Nova, and Heidi Grant, Executive Partner at Elara Nova, break down the series of changes coming to the Foreign Military Sales program and how these efforts will help streamline and strengthen international engagements with the U.S. government and its defense industrial base. Brad is a retired Colonel with the United States Air Force and is the former Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation in Brussels. Heidi is the former Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Defense Technology Security Administration. "The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here [https://elaranova.com/insights/]. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.

Digital Infrastructure Modernization to Lay Foundation for Zero Trust, AI

The Department of War (DOW) kick-started the year with a series of steps to enhance the resiliency and reliability of the digital infrastructure underpinning military operations. In early January, the United States Space Force announced [https://spacenews.com/space-force-begins-base-network-overhaul-as-cybersecurity-demands-grow/] it will be overhauling computer networks at all 14 of its bases under the Base Infrastructure Modernization program. Then the National Security Agency released the first two products of its Zero Trust Implementation Guidelines [https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/4378980/nsa-releases-first-in-series-of-zero-trust-implementation-guidelines/], while the DOW launched its Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy [https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/12/2003855671/-1/-1/0/ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE-STRATEGY-FOR-THE-DEPARTMENT-OF-WAR.PDF]. Altogether, these actions demonstrate the growing imperative to prepare the DOW’s digital infrastructure to take advantage of emerging technologies and counter evolving threats.  In this month's episode of "The Elara Edge," General (Ret) Tim Haugh explains how the ongoing digital infrastructure modernization at the Department of War will lay the foundation for zero trust and artificial intelligence implementation. Prior to joining Elara Nova as a Senior Principal Advisor, Gen (Ret) Haugh served as the  Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, Director of the National Security Agency, and Chief of the Central Security Service.  "The Elara Edge" is hosted and produced by Scott King of Elara Nova. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here [https://elaranova.com/insights/]. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.