A decade ago, space technology company Stellar Exploration needed about three years to build, test and deliver a small satellite propulsion system. Today the same system takes about a year. Increasingly, customers are requesting delivery in half the time.
CEO Tomas Switek said, “It’s not fair, but people don’t hesitate to ask.” “In the last year, there has been a greater emphasis on speed.”
This push is reshaping how companies approach national security space work, where the ability to move quickly is eclipsing traditional priorities like cost and, in some cases, even technical performance. Executives say it would be easier to meet tight deadlines if clients reduced the extensive documentation requirements that are often written into contracts.
Government officials have begun to outline the changes from a strategic perspective.
Chief of Space Operations of the US Space Force, General B. “Speed is now a strategic requirement, not just an efficiency goal,” Chance Saltzman said at the Air Force Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, in February. “As technological advances compress decision timelines and reshape the character of warfare, the Space Force must align development timelines with operational demands.”
This urgency reflects growing concern over threats to satellites that conduct US military operations and economic activities. Officials say rivals are moving at a faster pace than the traditional pace of government acquisitions.
“Space systems take years to develop and threats develop within weeks or months,” William Adkins, principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs in April. “Our adversaries are not waiting and neither can we.”
To compete, “we must all leverage disruptive technology faster than our competitors, whether it’s for national security or economic security,” Air Force Secretary Troy Mink said at the space symposium.
spiral development
For Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office (COMSO) this emphasis on speed means “encouraging speed even at the risk of some regrets on the capability side,” COMSO director Col. Tim Trimiello said on SpaceNews’ Space Minds podcast.
It is no longer enough for contractors to promise prompt delivery. When submitting proposals, companies must present evidence to prove that their proposed timelines are realistic.
“Show me the data behind the schedule that says, ‘I can move faster and I can deliver results,'” Trimello said. Evidence of capital expenditures to increase production capacity, for example, “can help you win those contracts.”
Price still matters. Technological capability is where the Space Force is willing to take greater risks.
The policy of spiral development, which often starts with a minimum viable product and progresses through successive upgrades, is replacing the traditional approach, where government agencies accept only those satellites or sensors that meet broad technical requirements.
If the next iteration of a capability will be delivered soon, “what I would call low-level or nice-to-have requirements,” “I don’t need to get to 100%,” Trimello said.
change in mindset
Industry executives at the space symposium said they welcome the renewed emphasis on speed. The change extended beyond the military to NASA, where Administrator Jared Isaacman reorganized the Artemis program to increase the pace of lunar flights.
Isaacman is asking contractors to share ideas for technology that would meet 80 or 90% of NASA’s requirements if it would cut delivery times in half.
“We’re working with our teams here. We want to move faster, but it’s a bit of a mindset change to say, ‘You don’t have to meet every single requirement,'” Kristin Houston, president of L3Harris Space Propulsion and Power Systems, told reporters.
“Speed is good for everybody. Speed reduces program costs. Speed gets that capability into orbit faster,” said Jeff Hanke, space systems president at L3Harris.
To accelerate technology development and manufacturing, companies are investing independent research and development dollars. Still, government contracting takes time.
“The government needs to speed up its process and make sure you get the contract quickly,” Hanke said.
artificial intelligence
AI tools are also helping companies accelerate space system design, development, and production. Archfield relies on AI tools to accelerate model-based systems engineering.
“Where we can apply AI and capture additional speed, let one person do the work of 10 people, that’s a huge force multiplier and it increases our speed,” Arkfield CEO Kevin Kelly said on the Space Minds podcast.
One of Archfield’s AI tools “consolidates specifications, all the documentation for legacy systems, and creates a digital model of legacy systems and current systems,” Kelly said. “It saves us thousands of hours of work.”
culture of compliance
In speeches at contractor facilities across the country, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon would “eliminate unnecessary technical standards and compliance requirements that add little or no value to deploying lethal capabilities” as a way to speed up the pace of acquisitions.
On the Space Symposium’s Space Law and Regulation track, speakers said they welcome that approach and look forward to guidance on new regulations.
“We’re certainly hoping for more clarity on our responsibilities so we can be efficient and make sure we’re helping our teams reach those mission-focused goals,” said Janna Lewis, senior vice president of Astroscale US policy and general counsel.
For example, contractors were notified in 2025 when the Trump administration removed affirmative-action requirements from federal contracts.
“As a company we looked at this and said, ‘We can stop requiring our suppliers to certify compliance with those regulations,'” Kelly Garreheim, general counsel and chief ethics officer at Sierra Space, said on the Space Symposium space law and regulation panel.
Will the Pentagon now loosen or eliminate regulations related to cybersecurity, mission assurance, security or data protection?
“We need to review compliance requirements with our clients and make sure we are getting formal notification,” Garehime said, either through contract letters or other transaction authorization (OTA) agreements.
For example, contracting officers may issue letters or OTAs to remove specific Federal acquisition regulation and defense federal acquisition regulation clauses from contracts.
“We cannot be left as a company having to choose between compliance obligations,” Garehime said. “There is a real opportunity here to work hand-in-hand with the customer.”
This article first appeared in the May 2026 issue of SpaceNews magazine with the title “Racing to Deliver.”
