Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Dr. Stacey Dixon

Remarks As Delivered

2024 GEOINT Symposium

Kissimmee, Florida

May 6, 2024

The year is 2004. On screen, is a representation of satellites that would have been orbiting the earth that year.

Twenty years ago, a year after the term GEOINT was defined and NIMA was reintroduced as NGA, the year USGIF was established, and the year the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was passed, which created today’s Intelligence Community, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Space was an environment dominated by just a few governments, difficult and expensive to get to and be in, at a time when governments and companies operating in space were regulated by a set of generally adhered to rules.

These rules were practical and mutually reinforcing, which was made easier by the fact that there were simply fewer players operating in space.

Today, more governments and commercial entities have access to space, and the cost of launch is now a fraction of what it once was.

At the same time, some capabilities have emerged with few rules to regulate them. Today, more than 10,000 operating and decommissioned satellites are on-orbit, and millions of pieces of debris, both trackable and un-trackable, [are] each moving at thousands of miles an hour.

This is a reality many here know well, in fact, many of the satellites are there because of those of you here.

Increased access to orbit has provided tremendous benefits for companies, governments and humankind.

The expansion of access to space, as well as the technological advances that have taken place, mean it is more important than ever that we now take steps that will effectively reduce the risk of escalation and miscalculation. We must do so now as nations, and companies and individuals are increasingly reliant on space-based capabilities in our lives, in our economies, and for our security. The introduction of anti-satellite capabilities, and the proliferation of the resulting space debris, is complicating the space environment, especially when the owners of these capabilities are not thoughtful about the debris field that they will leave behind if they choose not to try to minimize it.

We will head toward a collision course if we do nothing, and this could lead to disastrous consequences for the satellites on which we rely.

For example, in February of this year, NASA’s TIMED satellite and a defunct Russian orbiter came within ten meters of one another at great speed, with each having no ability to maneuver. And this isn’t the first time that there has been a near collision of manmade space objects. We – those of us in government and in industry – have an obligation to do more to keep space safe and secure for all who wish to responsibly partake in this tremendous, fragile, and shared environment.

In the work of the Intelligence Community, and as the conference theme suggests, GEOINT is essential in all dimensions and domains, and GEOINT is at its best when it is integrated with other intelligence disciplines.

At the same time, some intelligence disciplines are being redefined. In 2021, GEOINT was redefined in statute as “identifying the geographic locations and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on or about the Earth.” In other words, from seabed to space, as NGA would say.

And GEOINT isn’t the only domain whose definition is evolving. Open Source Intelligence, OSINT, has recently been defined in a community process in the IC OSINT Strategy. The Strategy defines OSINT as “intelligence derived exclusively from publicly or commercially available information that addresses specific intelligence priorities, requirements, or gaps.”

The definitions of our intelligence disciplines will continue to evolve as the world, and our access to information and technology evolve, and as the value from integrating intelligence from these disciplines continues to grow.

And to integrate intelligence best, it requires the use of commercial GEOINT as well as information from government owned and operated systems. When combined with other INTs, GEOINT leads the way in helping us address the challenges we and our allies face, as well as those of the broader world in which we are a part. Together, we collectively have the power to change the future for the better. You might ask… Who is responsible for these advances? It is the people and organizations represented here in this room. This starts with Ronda Schrenk and Robert Cardillo – thank you both for your leadership of USGIF.

I know it takes a team of volunteers, staff, members and sponsors to make this symposium a success. And your partnership with us and the support you provide to “Build the Community, Advance the Tradecraft, and Accelerate Innovation,” is irreplaceable.

Those here, and the many generations who came before, have made space a place for exploration and for collection and analysis. An environment from which to observe, and not destroy. Many who have done this for the past 20 years and more are here this morning, and I want to thank you too, for leading the way and setting a very high bar for those who will build upon your accomplishments.

You have been the drivers of both the commercial development and the commercial use of space that has led us to this day. Now we all have a shared duty to ensure that responsible advances in space can continue for the next 20 years, and beyond.

And we also have the next generation of leaders here with us, who share our passion, who are surrounded by technology and see the world differently than those of us who are not digital natives. It is they who will inherit the progress we have made, and build upon it. We now have an obligation to them, not just to include them here, now, but to create an environment where they can grow, live long, and prosper.

Space capabilities are generally passive observers of the Earth. They are also increasingly an extension of it... an active, and even interactive, presence that mirrors the people on our planet. Space also reflects the aspirations of those on Earth to improve and advance, but also highlights our disagreements and our conflicts.

If we believe in the potential of GEOINT, and if we want to continue to work toward achieving a better world, then those in the Intelligence Community and those in the broader GEOINT community, need to think – and act – with the future in mind.

To do so effectively, we must enhance our engagement in four important ways.

First, innovation. In space and in all domains, those who innovate, lead. GEOINT will continue to evolve: It will not be static. We must have a bias toward action and change. To always aim high, which, I believe, is in the DNA of many of those here.

The breadth and depth of what we can do in space is growing. And we see this in the development of: Synthetic Aperture Radar; Near-real time imagery; The use of constellations to map carbon output, image space systems on-orbit, provide alternate PNT solutions, track natural and human-derived changes to our planet, and drive national security and resiliency. Many of those examples you saw in Robert and Rhonda’s presentation.

And this must be sustained.

If we keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible through GEOINT, we – government, industry, academia, foreign partners – can continue to drive innovation across the space industry and beyond. And this includes considering ideas that were once science fiction – and thought by some to be impossible – that are now science “fact.” Ideas that allow us to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” We need to encourage and invest in continuous innovation while concurrently developing standards and regulations for the use of this innovation. And we do this best when we do this together.

Second, trust. We need to safeguard and enhance trust in a number of important ways.

Trust is being challenged across society, in so much of what we see and do. This includes trust in institutions, including with government and with the Intelligence Community in particular. And that’s because our activities are mainly, by necessity, secret.

Trust is something that must be earned, and we can’t take it for granted. We in the Intelligence Community must always safeguard the privacy and civil liberties of the American public, and strive to be as transparent as we can be, which does help us build trust. We also believe it is important to reflect the demographics: The who...and the values...the what...of the communities that we serve.

This trust extends to the integrity and the accuracy of the intelligence that we produce, whether that is in the President’s Daily Brief, or in what we make available to our allies and partners, or even in what is shared with the public.

This includes the GEOINT that we and our partners produce, as we saw in the unprecedented release of imagery and other intelligence in the lead up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 803 days ago . We know that trust will be challenged, and we must accept and be prepared for this difficult reality, as separating what is fake from what is real is becoming increasingly more difficult. Even now, the ability to create convincing altered or simulated imagery exists. And we know that some have the intent to use that imagery to undermine trust.

Trust is also of vital importance within and among elements and with our partners and suppliers. For example, the Intelligence and Defense communities are redoubling our efforts to secure the supply chains that are used in the products and services we buy. And this includes critical physical products and digital products.

This past year set a record example for the number of data breaches in the United States. China, Russia, Iran and other state and state-supported actors are seeking to, and sometimes successfully have, penetrated U.S. IT networks, including government networks, and exploited their vulnerabilities. And these vulnerabilities will be particularly hard to fix in space if we don’t find them before launch, or build in the capability to update them on orbit.

And this is why our communities are working together to codify Supply Chain Risk Management frameworks for primes and subs in all the products we buy to advance our mission. Those who rely on those products must be able to trust in the security and integrity of these critical systems, so they will not only survive attacks, but prevail against those attacks.

And we invite industry to help us develop these frameworks and focus our efforts, so that the phrase “know your supplier” becomes as common as the phrase “know your customer.”

We can also increase trust through cybersecurity. As we continue to look at commercial solutions that enable national security, trusting those solutions will be foundational to adopting and benefiting from them. Whether you’re a large prime, or a small startup, cybersecurity underpins both you and your customers’ ability to safeguard intellectual property, and operate safely no matter in what space you’re operating.

Third, partnerships. Supply chain collaboration and cybersecurity are critical aspects in advancing the partnerships that are an incredible source of our nation’s power.

This is of course not a new idea, but it is of growing importance. Partnerships with allied nations — and I hear there are over 30 allied nations represented here at the Symposium — and partnerships for developing and expanding capabilities in every domain. Partnerships with industry, academia and NGOs. All these partnerships are creating unprecedented opportunities to share more, to do more, and to leverage our strengths.

This includes more opportunities to collaborate further along the GEOINT value chain: Beyond just designing, building and launching satellites — to do more interpretation, more analysis and exploitation of data and imagery.

And we will continue to need more commercial and government owned and operated space-based capabilities — it isn’t one or the other — and these future capabilities will come through partnerships with you.

Partnerships are a two-way street: Not only are we a customer, but we can also share intelligence and insights to make your satellites and products more resilient, and we can provide warning of threats to your systems and your services.

Of course, we need to do more to help facilitate these kinds of partnerships, to make us more agile, more efficient and more responsive. And we’ve taken a couple of steps that I’ll highlight here to do that, to include:

The 2023 creation of the Commercial Strategy Board, which I chair. This board reviews commercial requirements, and publishes unclassified documents that outline intelligence and defense needs for commercial data and analytics. And as a result, we hope that industry will better understand IC and DOD expectations, and be able to make more informed business decisions. And; And this year, US Space Force will be joining another council, the IC Commercial Space Council, as a voting member. The Council, which serves as an IC forum for collaboration and provides a focal point for industry engagement, has continued its successful efforts to integrate and coordinate policies, strategies and approvals across the government for the commercial space industry.

And we will continue to look for other ways to be better partners.

We need your engagement, and we are taking steps to improve our engagement with you. In particular I would like to thank three people: Pete Muend, Director of the NRO Commercial Space Program Office; John Huth, Chair of the IC Commercial Space Council; and Devin Brande, Director, NGA Commercial Office for everything they are doing to enhance our partnerships, and leverage commercial data more effectively across the IC.

Fourth, integration. The fourth way we can enhance our effectiveness and increase our competitive advantage in space, is by increasing our ability to easily integrate GEOINT data with data from all of our other intelligence disciplines. All our intelligence collection platforms, including those that are space-based, must be able to be integrated with one another, end-to-end, from the point of data collection, to its exploitation, to its dissemination.

We are only able to apply AI, ML and other emerging technologies to this vast quantity of raw or processed data we acquire, including imagery from space, when they can be integrated. Only then can we unleash the full potential that comes from data fusion that in turn provides us the kinds of insights that give us a decisive decision advantage.

And this makes GEOINT into something even more powerful than when it stands alone.

Advancing these goals and doing them well leads back to our first principles: What is the purpose of Geospatial Intelligence? What are the responsibilities that we collectively have for the use of space? For more than a half-century, America has used its dominant position in space to gain insights about life on Earth, to explore, to gather intelligence, and to do so peacefully.

We have always been opposed to the weaponization of space. Last month the United States and Japan proposed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council that reiterated our commitment to “not develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space.”

We have pledged, and consider it our duty, to use space according to commonly accepted rules and standards, along with other countries and companies who want to leverage it for peaceful purposes.

The future of space will be decided by those who operate in it — commercial companies, allies, and adversaries alike. It is a responsibility all of us have, to preserve space so that we can continue to benefit from it.

Today is a time for leadership: For leading the development of norms and standards to promote the safety and security of space. If we don’t, we may lose out on the benefits upon which we have come to rely, and the vast amount of technological advancement that has taken place, and that is yet to come.

In response to the United Nations Security Council resolution, 13 nations voted in favor. China abstained, and Russia vetoed it. As U.S. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote, “Today’s veto gets to the question of why? Why, if you are following the rules would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them?”

Our only option is to work with those in the international community who are willing, so we can build trust, form constructive partnerships, and benefit from innovation, so that together we can do our duty to prevent the destruction of this fragile, shared environment.

If we do so, we can continue to use GEOINT to take action on issues of common concern: like climate change and its national security implications, counterproliferation, narcotics trafficking, protecting global resources.

And there is precedence for the kind of collaboration we need today, and for doing so even in times of great power conflict. One of the first agreements to do so in space was about the exchange of data from weather satellites, in 1962, the same year as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

And 50 years ago, in the middle of the Cold War, planning was well underway for Apollo-Soyuz, the first joint space station, as part of “An Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes.”

And today one of the few areas of continuing cooperation between Russia and the United States is the successor to Apollo-Soyuz: The International Space Station, which, as it has been for more than 25 years, is in orbit above us. This is a part of a long history of cooperation among both allies and adversaries in space.

We have enough conflict and confrontation on Earth: We should seek to use the Earth’s orbit for the betterment of all humankind, to help avoid conflict, decrease risk, reduce human suffering, and create a sustainable, more prosperous world.

Those here have done much to get us to where we are today. And we are able to do amazing things in space today because of you. Now is a time to take the next step forward, a giant leap for humankind, to protect this shared, precious resource, not just for those who live on Earth today, but for those also who will inherit it in the future.

The choice of what to do is now ours to make. Let us choose wisely, and let us do so together.

Thank you.

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