The Space Warfighting Analysis Center has started laying out force designs for critical operations, but will SSC be able to transition those blueprints into real-world acquisition programs, Lockheed Martin's Eric Brown asked.
"The commercial space sector is driving the market, and "Space Systems commanders are eager to facilitate these companies and bring their unique solutions into our programs of record," says Joy White, executive director of the new Space Systems Command.
Balancing security and access to data are critical to providing users with trustworthy, reliable data for real-time decisions.
The OSP-4 contract vehicle targets both mature launch providers and emerging companies approximately one year from being launch capable, according to SMC.
UPDATED: To clarify costs. WASHINGTON: Ground integration tests of the experimental NTS-3 satellite, designed to demonstrate alternate positioning, navigation and timing capabilities to those now provided by GPS, will begin next month, an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) official tells Breaking Defense. “We’re just getting into what we call the ‘end-to-end system integration’ test. We’re […]
Space Force Plans for a new Space Systems Command "consist primarily of renaming the Space and Missile Systems Center" and do not "resolve the fundamental issues of overlap and duplication in roles," the HAC report says.
Space RCO is currently managing 13 classified programs, with another about to be initiated, said Director Mike Roberts.
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
Space Force is actively considering whether its future missile warning and tracking satellites should be stationed in a wider range of orbits than in the past to improve the network's accuracy and resiliency, an SMC official says.
So-called 'responsive launch,' the ability to launch practically on demand, has been a Holy Grail for the Pentagon for more than a decade with arguably not much real-world progress.
"OCX and the user equipment piece do not come online until the third quarter of 2023; that is when we would expect to have our initial operational capability for the GPS enterprise across across all segments: space, ground and user equipment," said Space and Missile Command's Col. Ed Byrne.
If industry can "turn this into a human transport mechanism -- which some of the companies are talking about doing -- sure the DoD would be interested in exploring options for that, just as we do with the airlines, and the shipping industries today,"AFRL's Program Manager Greg Spanjers said.
Standoff capability means warfighters stay connected and remain remotely located in a safer environment while making it harder for adversaries to target them.
The funds will support potential new space missions such as re-fueling satellites on orbit.
The new SBIRS satellite, called SBIRS GEO 5, will be "the most advanced missile warning satellite" on orbit, said Lt. Col. Ryan Laughton, SMC's program manager.
Gen. Jay Raymond, Space Force chief, stressed that the new digital vision applies not just to service acquisition, but to everything the newest military service does, with a bottom-line goal of speeding decision-making.
Space acquisition reform so far has been focused on "small dollar" activities, with most big-ticket programs such as NSSL stuck in the bad old ways, says a new report by Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.