Visions of the future involving space technology can easily drift into the realm of the fantastic, in part because the line between far-fetched and plausible isn't necessarily clear. As the top science and technology adviser to the commander of U.S. Air Force Space Command, Merri Sanchez's job is to map out a research agenda that aims high but keeps it real. Sanchez's boss, Gen. John Hyten, in February issued a technology wish list that included self-healing spacecraft, utilization of alternative spectrum bands, prediction of attacks in space and nontraceable counterspace capabilities. Sanchez put these out to industry and academia in the form of a document called "Space and Cyber Superiority 2030," and followed that up in July with an innovation summit in which industry was invited to hear the Air Force's ideas and present a few of its own.
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