When the Secretary of the Air Force declares, "We are in the second space race," it's not hyperbole; it's a call to action. And Mark Ignash, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Ecosystem Development for the Michigan Office of Defense and Aerospace Innovation (ODAI), is answering that call with a strategy that's as bold as it is practical: harnessing the power of crowdsourced innovation to solve the nation's toughest dual-use challenges.
In a recent HeroX Speaker Series conversation, Ignash pulled back the curtain on how Michigan, where defense is the state's third-largest industry, is reimagining what's possible when you combine industrial strength, academic talent, and agile public-private partnerships.
The Perfect Storm for Dual-Use Innovation
The timing couldn't be more critical. As NASA prepares to launch Artemis II astronauts around the moon this week, the convergence of commercial and defense innovation has never been more apparent. "We are in a second space race and
we have everything we need as a nation to, again, win that. But we have to realize that we're in it," Ignash emphasized.
This realization is driving ODAI's approach: leveraging commercial technologies to solve government and defense needs at unprecedented speed. But how do you actually make that happen? For Michigan, the answer lies in crowdsourcing.
From Ice Packs to Innovation: The MI Space Hackathon
Consider the MI Space Hackathon, an initiative that perfectly illustrates dual-use innovation in action. The challenge? Using remote sensing to monitor ice formations in the Great Lakes - a problem with both commercial shipping and defense applications.
"The problem that we had is niche, using remote sensing for ice pack, both commercial and defense applications, that's not a common theme... it needs to be more tailored," Ignash explained.
This is where crowdsourcing shines. Rather than limiting solutions to traditional contractors, Michigan opened the door to anyone with the skills and creativity to solve the problem. And the results speak for themselves.
The Academic Advantage
One of the most compelling arguments for crowdsourcing? It lowers the barrier for brilliant minds, especially students, to tackle real-world challenges. Ignash has witnessed firsthand the energy that comes when academic talent meets meaningful problems.
The pattern repeats across challenges. In HeroX's GoAERO Challenge, solvers designed and built safe, portable, autonomy-enabled Emergency Response Flyers. In NASA's Lunar Rover Wheel Challenge, diverse teams brought fresh perspectives to decades-old engineering problems. The winning team from an FAA data science challenge? "They were a team of pilots who went and did some research and found some publicly available Python libraries... and then modified them for their data set," tells Jamie Elliott, HeroX’s Director of Customer Success.
This is expanding the pool of problem-solvers.
"Competimates" and the Elastic Enterprise
Perhaps most fascinating is Ignash's observation of what he calls "competimates," entities that may compete in one aspect but team up in others, such as solving cutting-edge problems in areas like uncrewed systems and microelectronics. A tri-state partnership consisting of Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana, the activities of the Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons Hub exemplifies this facilitated partnership model.
This represents a fundamental shift from slow, formal agreements toward agile team formation focused on finding "good enough solutions" to reach the next milestone. It's what Jamie cites as the "elastic enterprise;" a market behavior detailed in Nicholas Vitalari’s book, that’s perfectly suited to the rapid pace of modern aerospace and defense challenges.
Looking Ahead: The Michigan Innovation Hub
Michigan isn't stopping here. The state is planning a 2026 launch of a Michigan Space Innovation Hub, designed to concentrate resources, brain trust, and the state's core strengths in R&D and manufacturing on the rapidly growing space economy. It's a bold vision for becoming a true catalyst for innovation, built on the principles of agility, dual-use thinking, and deeply engaged crowds.
The Bottom Line
As we navigate this second space race, the path to victory isn't just about bigger budgets or faster rockets. It's about agility, partnerships, and recognizing that breakthrough solutions can come from anywhere… if you create the right conditions for them to emerge.
Your organization's next great breakthrough may not come from internal R&D; it may be waiting in an engaged external crowd.
Watch the full conversation with Mark Ignash on the HeroX Speaker Series to learn how to build an agile innovation ecosystem, and explore how HeroX's Full Service offering can provide the "white glove service" necessary to nurture and engage your niche crowd.
Relevant Links
- MI Space Hackathon
- Michigan Office of Defense and Aerospace Innovation (ODAI)
- US Space Force Association
- National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)
- U.S. Air & Space Forces Association
- Women in Defense
- GoAERO Challenge on HeroX
- Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge (Lunar Rover Wheel Challenge)
- Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons Hub
- "The Elastic Enterprise" by Nicholas Vitalari & Haydn Shaughnessy
- NASA Artemis II Mission
- HeroX Innovation Leadership Speaker Series (YouTube Playlist)
