Space industry lacks workers needed to rebuild satellites lost in war: report
A RAND report warns that the U.S. lacks the necessary engineering and technical workforce to rapidly replace military satellites in the event of a conflict with China or Russia. The study highlights significant labor gaps that make the goal of reconstituting space assets within 12 to 24 months currently unachievable.
Why it matters
National security depends on space-based communication and surveillance, and this report suggests a critical vulnerability in the U.S. defense industrial base.
The United States does not have enough engineers, technicians and assemblers to rebuild military space assets destroyed in a war with China or Russia, according to a RAND report published Aug. 31.
The study, “ Breaking Glass, Missing Hands ,” asks how quickly the country could replace satellites and supporting systems lost early in a protracted conflict. It sets the benchmark for reconstitution, the term for restoring lost capability, at 12 to 24 months, a pace much more demanding than the decade or so the report says it typically takes to replace an aging satellite.
The study examines whether the space defense industrial base could meet that timeline between 2027 and 2032. The authors argue that existing workforce gaps could take years to close, putting a 12-to-24-month timeline out of reach.
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