The U.S. space industry is having a “Sputnik moment, one launch at a time,” with each satellite or spacecraft launched by the Chinese government, a top industry executive said Tuesday at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

The general public in the U.S. “doesn’t have any clue how much they rely on space — they believe ‘I have GPS on my phone, why do I need space?'” Robert Lightfoot, president of Lockheed Martin Space, said during a panel discussion of top space industry executives at the symposium. “Our ability to communicate to the public about the threat we face (from China and other adversaries) is critical.”

A ”Sputnik moment” refers to the launch of the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, the first satellite, in October 1957, nearly four months before the first U.S. satellite launch, prompting the creation of NASA and beginning a space competition that was a centerpiece of the Cold War. China and the U.S. both plan manned lunar missions and U.S. officials are worried about potential Chinese space weapons.

Concerns about the space plans by China and other U.S. adversaries are driving U.S. civilian and military space officials to push for quicker development of space capabilities that has prompted major space and defense contractors to change the way they operate, panelists said. Changes include moving from cost-based to fixed-price contracts and using technology developed by startup space companies.

“Delivering at pace — how we can deliver more quickly” is the industry’s biggest challenge, said Michelle Parker, vice president of space mission systems for Boeing Defense, Space and Security. “We need new technology and capability on orbit today.”

That is why Boeing acquired Millennium Space Systems, a California-based, small-satellite provider, in 2018, Parker said. The aerospace giant has tried to maintain Millennium’s entrepreneurial spirt and ability to act quickly, while integrating Boeing’s ability to expand production from a handful to hundreds of satellites, helping the company to be able to build capacity to meet its 100-satellite order backlog, she said.

Lightfoot said Lockheed has invested in more than 30 companies to use their technology in space systems it is developing and tries to avoid investing in the same technologies as its competitors since aerospace giants often work together on large space contracts. The industry’s largest players are focusing much of their recent investments in artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

Artificial intelligence will play a large role in developing the planned Golden Dome missile defense system the Trump administration wants to build, but other technology needed for the system still must be developed, Lightfoot said.

The move to quick production of smaller satellites is a major change for an industry that in the past spent up to a decade developing, producing and launching large, specialized custom-built satellites for communications, navigation, surveillance and many other uses. The industry has shifted in recent years to a larger number of smaller satellites that use more standard components and can be launched more quickly at a much lower cost.

“What the (government) customer needs has changed from exquisite technology to something available quickly, so you have the work through everyone’s concerns and have an agreement that works for everybody,” Parker said. The strategy needs to be to “deliver the capability you have now, then add more capabilities later. The customer needs it now and that is the urgency.”

Ed Zoiss, president of space and airborne systems for L3Harris, said the company is developing a production line for continuous manufacturing for satellites, which he believes the entire industry will eventually adopt to get space systems more rapidly in orbit. He said industry must adopt “close to a wartime footing” of producing space systems fast enough to maintain the U.S. advantage in space.

For example, Zoiss said the aerospace industry is using artificial intelligence to help U.S. military personnel make sense of the rapidly growing amount of data captured by sensors and turn that into actionable intelligence.