Space Force chief technologist hints at future plans to build a digital infrastructure

Lisa Costa, chief technology and innovation officer of the U.S. Space Force, said the service is eyeing investments in edge computing, data centers in space and other technologies needed to build a digital infrastructure.  

“Clearly, the imperative for data driven, threat informed decisions is number one, and that means that we need computational and storage power in space, and high-speed resilient communications on orbit,” Costa said Jan. 13 at a virtual event hosted by GovConWire, a government contracting news site. 

Costa was appointed CTIO of the Space Force in September 2021. She was previously director of communications systems and chief information officer of U.S. Special Operations Command.