A former senior engineer from SpaceX is urging industries beyond aerospace to adopt what she terms “space-grade” software standards, warning that reliance on fragmented and outdated systems poses a significant risk to public safety and operational integrity. The call to action highlights a growing concern that the software powering critical infrastructure often fails to match the complexity and high stakes of the tasks it manages.
Key Takeaways
- Laura Crabtree, a veteran of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft missions, argues that critical sectors like aviation, energy, and defense are hampered by inadequate software.
- Incidents like the recurring radar blackouts at Newark Airport are cited as evidence of the dangers posed by antiquated, disconnected systems.
- "Space-grade" software is defined not by complexity, but by its reliability, security, and human-centered design, ensuring full traceability and real-time collaboration.
- The proposed standard emphasizes building robust, intuitive platforms to prevent failures in high-consequence operations, from managing nuclear facilities to coordinating air traffic.
The Danger of Disconnected Systems
In high-stakes environments where the margin for error is nonexistent, the tools used to manage operations are often the weakest link. According to Laura Crabtree, who spent over a decade on SpaceX’s mission operations team, many critical industries continue to rely on a patchwork of disconnected tools like spreadsheets, PDFs, and separate shared folders.
This fragmented approach creates what she describes as an “industry-wide, dangerous divide” between what operational software provides and what teams actually need to perform their duties safely and efficiently. Even at a pioneering company like SpaceX, her team faced obstacles with disjointed workflows while managing missions as critical as the first commercial astronaut delivery to the International Space Station in 2020.
“We were able to patch some of these siloed processes and workflows over time, but the difficulty lay at the core,” Crabtree explained. “Our systems weren’t altogether connected, meaning our solutions would always be limited stopgaps.”
A Recurring Problem
The argument for better software is underscored by real-world failures. A recent radar screen blackout at Newark Airport, attributed to a telecommunications outage, forced the FAA to halt incoming flights. During the incident, an air traffic controller was heard saying, “Scopes just went black again,” indicating it was not an isolated event. This highlights how operators are repeatedly put in high-risk situations by unreliable technology.
Defining 'Space-Grade' for Earthly Applications
The term “space-grade” does not imply overly complex or niche software exclusively for rocket scientists. Instead, it refers to a set of core principles focused on reliability, security, and usability that can be applied to any sector where failure carries significant consequences.
Crabtree, now the CEO of software company Epsilon3, advocates for platforms that are as resilient as the physical systems they support. This means incorporating features that are standard in aerospace but often overlooked elsewhere.
Core Principles of Space-Grade Software:
- Full Traceability: Every action, change, and decision must be logged and auditable, creating a clear history of operations.
- Real-Time Collaboration: Teams must be able to work together seamlessly on a unified platform, eliminating confusion from multiple document versions.
- Rigorous Version Control: Procedures and workflows must be strictly managed to ensure everyone is using the correct, most up-to-date information.
- Human-Centered Design: Software should be intuitive and designed to support human operators under pressure, not hinder them.
During her time at SpaceX, Crabtree noted that building custom tools required intense focus on the end-user. Usability testing with non-technical subjects revealed insights into human behaviors, such as eye-scanning patterns, which helped designers create interfaces that could save operators critical seconds during decision-making.
“By ‘space-grade,’ I’m talking about elegant software: blending operational rigor with human-centered design to create unified platforms and tools capable of supporting complex, consequential operations in any industry.”
A Standard for All Critical Industries
The call for higher software standards extends far beyond launching rockets. Industries such as aviation, defense, nuclear energy, and advanced manufacturing all manage complex processes where a single software failure could have catastrophic financial or human costs.
The argument is that these sectors should not be forced to make do with generic office tools. Instead, they require specialized software built with the same level of discipline and foresight used in aerospace engineering. Mechanical engineers, for example, should be focused on their primary tasks, not building makeshift software tools to overcome the limitations of their existing systems.
From Government Project to Global Standard
History shows that technologies developed for high-stakes government projects often become essential civilian tools. The internet began as a Department of Defense project in 1969 and is now used by 68% of the world's population. Similarly, space travel evolved from a government-led race to the Moon into a commercial enterprise. The push for space-grade software follows this pattern, aiming to make elite-level reliability a mainstream standard.
As operations become more automated and interconnected, the risk of exploitation by malicious actors also grows. A weak point in the software can become a vulnerability for the entire system. Therefore, building platforms that are inherently secure and resilient is not just a matter of efficiency, but also of national and economic security.
The Foundation for a Safer Future
Ultimately, the push for space-grade software is about building a more reliable foundation for the technologies that underpin modern society. Whether coordinating thousands of daily flights, managing a power grid, or developing new medical treatments, the systems involved are only as strong as the software that runs them.
“Success, in any mission, starts with a solid foundation. And today, that foundation is software,” Crabtree stated. She argues that adopting these higher standards will make operations safer, more accountable, and better prepared for unexpected challenges.
By raising the bar for the tools that power our most critical industries, the goal is to create new standards of excellence that can prevent failures before they happen, ensuring a more resilient and secure future for everyone.