The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released a white paper last month focused on the supply chain for the commercial space industry, and the findings may have been something of a wake-up call for the industry.
According to the report, “Strengthening America’s Space Supply Chain: Built for yesterday, igniting momentum for tomorrow”, the U.S. space industrial base has not kept pace with industry growth, and that poses risks to national security, as well as civil, and commercial space programs.
On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Steve Jordan Tomaszewski, VP of Space Systems at AIA, and Doug Anderson, a Consulting Solutions Partner at PwC’s Operations and Supply Chain Services practice and co-author of the report.
Steve Jordan Tomaszewski said that the pressure is coming largely from the increasing demand for spacecraft and components for a variety of missions.
“Overall, that is a good problem to have. It means that space is being more and more useful in our everyday lives all around the world. And especially if we look for applications like using satellites for national security purposes,” he said. “If we’re looking at using satellites for exploration, for communications and more of commercial applications, there is just more and more demand happening today. However, we don’t see capacity and the manufacturing base able to keep up with that demand.”
The fix, according to the report, requires action on multiple fronts — better coordination between government and industry on long-term planning, easing outdated qualification requirements, expanding shared testing infrastructure, and creating financial incentives to bring more suppliers online. Jordan Tomaszewski said that 2026 will be the ‘year of the supply chain’.
