The leader of NASA, lawmakers and other thought-leaders in space gathered Sunday afternoon ahead of the 40th Space Symposium and emphasized the importance of moving quickly in space to defeat Russia and China, replacing the International Space Station and modernizing missile defenses.

Retired Gen. John Hyten, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, noted that while the commercial sector has put up thousands and thousands of new satellites in the last 10 years, the U.S. military’s presence in space is largely the same.

“That is not moving fast, that’s not even moving,” Hyten said, saying it must change.

The Space Development Agency is investing in new satellites to work on missile warning and missile tracking, but those constellations are still in the early stages.

The urgency to replace the International Space Station when it is taken down from orbit in 2030 is also a priority, several speakers said.

China launched its own space station in 2021, and the U.S. is planning to rely on commercial space stations to maintain its presence in orbit.

NASA’s acting administrator, Janet Petro, said the agency needs to remain a leader across all domains in space, including low Earth orbit, home to the space station.

“We’re bringing our industry and international partners with us,” she said.

NASA also has plans as part of the Artemis mission to build a station on the moon as part of sending crewed missions to Mars.

Congressman George Whitesides, D-Calif., expressed support for cutting red tape to maintain space superiority over Russia and China, and maintaining NASA’s Earth science programs, focused on subjects like the atmosphere, ocean currents, temperature and upper ocean life. He said it’s possible those programs could end in 2026, a statement Petro did not address.

Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colorado Springs, and others highlighted the importance of Golden Dome, a vision President Donald Trump called for in an executive order to modernize missile defenses.

“In Colorado Springs, we’re all positioned and ready to be a large player in that,” he said.

The expansive vision for Golden Dome is likely to generate conversation this week during the Symposium as it did during a similar event in Aurora earlier in the year.