Over the past decade, China’s rapid rise in adopting and deploying innovative technologies has sparked a new “Great Power Competition,” particularly in the space domain. According to Major General Gregory J Gagnon, the chief intelligence officer for the United States Space Force, China’s “strategic breakout” in space is evident by the country’s more than 1,000 satellites on-orbit today, and a demonstrated capacity to launch over 200 satellites each year.

Meanwhile, the budgetary process for the Department of Defense (DOD) - known as the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution or PPBE - is increasingly unable to keep up with the rapid innovations of modern technology. That's why in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act - or NDAA - Congress mandated a Commission on PPBE Reform to deliver guidance for modernizing the DOD’s budgetary process.

In this episode of, “The Elara Edge: Expert Insights on Space Security,” Elara Nova partner Shawn Barnes, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Congressional Budget and Appropriations Liaison, provides insight and analysis on the Commission on PPBE Reform's Final Report and how the inevitable change in administration after the 2024 election presents both promise and peril for implementing its recommendations to deliver space superiority for the warfighter.
"The Elara Edge" is hosted by Scott King and produced by Regia Multimedia Services. The full story can be found on Elara Nova's Insights page here. Music was produced by Patrick Watkins of PW Audio.