Experiences and Observations for Technology Transition in the USSF

The pace of innovation in the space community is accelerating. Even with limited resources and more complex, disaggregated missions on the horizon, the opportunity for technology development continues to grow exponentially. This gives an opportunity for the Space Force to accelerate the transformation of the overall architecture - which will require equally rapid technology transition from Research and Development (R&D) to production and operations. R&D organizations are often chartered to perform revolutionary research (as opposed to evolutionary research) meaning there isn't always the key advocate/warfighter or program for transition identified upfront. Unfortunately, this often results in the “technology transition valley of death” where innovative minimally mature systems aren't adopted into the future enterprise and those potential capabilities are lost. Successful transition of a new technology or new capability to acquisition and operations requires warfighter demand, building partnerships, and securing funding. In addition, other key enablers to rapid transition include rapid prototyping and development, ridesharing, and improved systems integrations processes. To bridge the valley of death, we'll need to rely on these enablers prove the “art of the possible” to potential stakeholders. This paper will address both successes and challenges of technology and capability transition from R&D organizations, using real-world examples of lessons learned. One such example is the ongoing evolution of the AFRL built EAGLE program to Space Systems Command Innovation and Prototyping Acquisition Delta's Long Duration Propulsive ESPA program, both of which are flown by the DoD Space Test Program. It will discuss the importance of not only looking at the systems engineering of the space vehicle, but system integration with ground systems and how other rideshare payloads play a critical role to the success of not just a single mission, but the collective missions that will build our future architecture.