THE ARCHITECTURE OF MOVEMENT

Building the Infrastructure for a Dynamic Space Domain

MOVE | CONNECT | SUSTAIN | PROTECT

Based on an interview with

Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw
U.S. Space Force (Ret.),
former Deputy Commander
U.S. Space Command

For nearly seven decades, the basic architecture of a satellite has remained remarkably consistent: build it with everything it will need, launch it into its designated orbit, and leave it there.

Fuel. Power. Redundant components. Everything required for the mission has to travel with it.

Instead of isolated spacecraft designed to survive independently for an entire mission, the next generation could operate within an infrastructure capable of delivering fuel, power, servicing, replacement components, transportation, and other resources after launch.

That changes more than spacecraft design. It changes how we operate in space.

CLOSED SYSTEMS TO OPEN ARCHITECTURE

Shaw compares today’s spacecraft to a car that could never visit a gas station or repair shop. It would need an enormous fuel tank, redundant components, and everything necessary to survive until something finally failed.

The new orbital infrastructure changes that equation.

Spacecraft could rendezvous for refueling. Components could be replaced. Power could be supplied by another platform. Advanced orbital data centers could be designed around serviceable components rather than attempting to make every server survive for years without maintenance. Eventually, autonomous systems could perform much of that work.

Shaw offered a simple milestone for recognizing when that transition has truly arrived: the day we can launch a satellite with its fuel tank largely empty because we know it can refuel in orbit.

The result is an emerging logistics layer that connects capabilities rather than leaving them isolated.

“We are missing an on-orbit logistics layer,” Shaw said. “We can only get so far with the closed system positional approach that we’ve used up to this point.”

FREEDOM TO MOVE

For national security, that infrastructure takes on another dimension: maneuverability.

Many satellites follow predictable trajectories with limited ability to move. Greater maneuverability introduces uncertainty for an adversary, allowing operators to avoid threats, investigate activity, reposition assets, and maintain initiative.

“The more I maneuver, the more uncertainty that puts into an adversary,” Shaw explained.

That uncertainty can contribute to deterrence across peacetime, crisis, and conflict. It can also support routine operations in increasingly crowded environments, where maneuverability is already important for avoiding debris and other spacecraft.

Refueling becomes particularly powerful in this environment. A commercial operator might use it to extend a spacecraft’s life. The Space Force could use the same underlying infrastructure to maneuver aggressively among orbits, approach objects of interest, evade threats, or support combat operations.

Shaw compares the distinction to aviation. Commercial airlines and military aircraft use the same broader aviation infrastructure, while military missions add specialized capabilities such as aerial refueling.

Commercial investment in power, servicing, transportation, communications, and logistics can therefore create infrastructure that supports an entire space economy while also strengthening national security.

“We will know the infrastructure has arrived when spacecraft can launch with largely empty fuel tanks because operators know they can refuel in orbit.”

– Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw

A REUSABLE SPACE ECONOMY

Open architecture also expands the idea of reusability.

Reusable launch vehicles began changing the economics of reaching space. Shaw sees that philosophy extending beyond rockets to spacecraft themselves.

“If we have this open architecture where they can have power sent to them or fuel or components, we’re now reusing them,” he said.

Some spacecraft may return to Earth for refurbishment and relaunch. Others may remain in orbit while being repaired, upgraded, refueled, or repurposed. The farther spacecraft travel from Earth’s gravity well, and the more sophisticated and valuable they become, the stronger the case for preserving and reusing those assets.

BEYOND ORBITS

Perhaps the most profound change is how this infrastructure could alter our perception of distance.

Today we tend to think of LEO, MEO, GEO, and cislunar space as distinct destinations. Shaw argues that this is partly a consequence of the closed-system architecture. We place a spacecraft into an orbit and expect it to remain there.

With transportation, fuel, communications, servicing, logistics, and greater freedom of movement, those boundaries begin to soften.

“Suddenly, there’s much more fluidity between all these orbital regimes,” Shaw said. “The next boundary that really maybe starts to matter is the entire Earth-Moon system.”

A sustained presence around and on the Moon will require communications, space domain awareness, transportation, logistics, and other infrastructure that ultimately connects those once-separate regions into a continuous operating environment.

Shaw compares this moment to an earlier transformation in American history. Apollo was the exploration, much like Lewis and Clark crossing the continent. What comes next is different. It is the railroad.

“We’re building the infrastructure to make it commonplace to get to the Moon,” Shaw said.

The next era of space will be defined by more than where we can go. It will be defined by the infrastructure that allows us to move, connect, sustain, protect, and keep going once we get there.

ABOUT Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw

Gen Shaw’s last active duty assignment, as a 3-star in the Space Force, was Deputy Commander of US Space Command, where he directed 12,000+ personnel worldwide and oversaw a $525M budget to defend the nation’s critical space capabilities and to deliver space effects to terrestrial warfighters and human society. He now is focused on growing the space economy, serving in board director and senior advisor roles for a number of space-focused companies and investment groups.