Commercially hosted payloads -flying government payloads as secondary missions on commercial satellites - have intrigued the minds of government decision-makers for some time. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has pursued two hosted payloads: the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload and the Internet Router in Space. While they show promise, neither has created enough interest to tip the scales in favor of the idea becoming a regular practice. At the same time, the White House's newest National Space Policy and the Pentagon's emphasis on "efficiencies" have fostered more interest and momentum in hosted payloads. Put simply, the future of hosted pay-loads provides great opportunity to both industry and the government. They offer the government a greater number of options from operational and business perspectives. They offer diversification of government architectures and capabilities, while increasing survivability and making it harder for an enemy to eliminate our space capabilities. For industry, they create business opportunities outside of typical government customers and ease market entry for new players.
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