Senators Ted Cruz and John Hickenlooper have introduced the NEW HORIZON Act, which aims to establish a pilot program for the Pentagon to explore the use of commercial orbital data centers for national security missions. The program would assess in-space data storage and processing capabilities, integrate them with existing military technology, and evaluate their resilience and vulnerabilities.
The introduction of the NEW HORIZON Act by Senators Ted Cruz and John Hickenlooper could significantly impact the commercial space industry by potentially integrating commercial orbital data centers and space-based cloud computing into national security missions. This presents a clear opportunity for space tech companies to engage with defense sectors, focusing on the development of resilient and efficient in-space data processing and storage solutions that can seamlessly integrate with existing military communication and intelligence technologies.