Delta Defense Group, LLC : Expert in Space and Intelligence

Equipped with extensive experience and expertise, Ram Riojas, President and CEO of Delta Defense Group, LLC, provides us with valuable insights into the North American space and intelligence sectors.

The career background of Ram Riojas , President and CEO of Delta Defense Group, LLC (Delta), includes almost three decades in the defense, aerospace, and intelligence sectors.

Riojas spent 26 years on military active duty in the US Air Force (USAF) and US Intelligence Community, starting in 1995 as a second lieutenant and concluding in 2022 when he retired as a colonel, and for the past three years has worked as a global defense consultant and advisor.

In terms of the space sector, Riojas’ expertise comes from civilian education, military training, and the execution of space operations.

On the civilian education side, he studied aerospace engineering as an undergraduate at the University of Texas and received a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Riojas has also completed military training and certifications across every space, intelligence, and nuclear missile operations discipline in the USAF, including missile warning, space surveillance, space launch, command and control, intelligence (signals, imagery, and human), and intercontinental ballistic missile operations.

Eventually, Riojas was able to leverage his academic background and tactical operational expertise to become a strategic-level space and intelligence expert.

Today, he stays engaged in every aspect of these industries in order to conduct global defense consulting engagements and support a variety of customers across government and the private sector.

Equipped with extensive experience and expertise, Riojas offers his informed perspective on space and intelligence in North America.

What is your current take on the space and intelligence sectors in North America?

Ram Riojas, President and CEO (RR):
At the moment, the space and intelligence sectors in North America are rapidly growing in capability and capacity and greatly influencing every other industry.

This trend has been ongoing for the past several years and is primarily enabled by advancements in technology, reduced space launch costs, and private sector investment in R&D.

This is an extremely exciting time, like the space race, with tremendous interest from the worldwide public. The major difference in this era is that these new advancements are truly part of our everyday life, such as the internet, GPS navigation, banking, e-commerce, logistics, healthcare, and mobile communications.

This is not without challenges though, including the management of incredibly powerful technology such as remote sensing/surveillance from space and the preservation of public privacy and freedoms, while legislation and regulation are also struggling to keep up with technology advancements.

Additionally, there will be a point in time when the space and intelligence markets become saturated with providers and technology advancements reach their limit, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the plethora of new and legacy companies in business today.

“Every person with a smartphone or internet access today has infinite power, only limited by their imagination, talent, and ambition”

Can you tell us more about the new space economy?

RR:
Worldwide, the space economy is valued at approximately $600 billion per year and is projected to triple in the next decade. These figures may be low since they only account for the first-order effects and impacts of space-related activities such as satellite and rocket manufacturing, defense and intelligence space systems, space tourism, and satellite communications (SATCOM).

In addition to these, the second and third-order effects on other areas of the economy that are enabled by space capabilities are even larger. For example, financial transactions across all sectors are dependent on space-based technology such as GPS and SATCOM.

Healthcare, agriculture, oil and gas, and academia likewise rely on space capabilities for day-to-day…