"Not only are [some Chinese satellites] difficult to visually acquire, that shape, they believe, would be incredibly beneficial in terms of masses of the radar cross section," Chief Master Sergeant Ron Lerch said.
The reorganization of the JCO will involve two elements: setting up processes for JCO to provide commercial space monitoring data directly to operators and establishing an acquisition pathway for that data.
Onshoring and investment in military-specific semiconductors anchor a cornerstone of the defense industrial base.
DARC has been plagued with delays almost since its inception, according to a series of annual studies by the Government Accountability Office.
Based on its orbital pattern, independent astronomer Marco Langbroek said he suspected the new satellite is joining other Russian "sleeping interceptors."
"Transitioning the spaceflight safety SSA responsibilities to DoC, a civil agency, will improve support to these users and allow DoD to focus its resources on core defense missions,” John Hill, DoD's senior space policy officer, said.
In discussing the preliminary version of TraCSS, Richard DalBello, director of the Office of Space Commerce, revealed to Breaking Defense that he's stepping down at the end of the year.
CAE and General Atomics use AI to enhance warfighter readiness, refine aerospace platforms, and learn from simulations.
All five contractors — COMSPOC, Kayhan Space, LeoLabs, Slingshot Aerospace, and SpaceNav — received new orders, bringing total "spending over the course of the Consolidated Pathfinder to $15.5 million," according to an announcement by the Office of Space Commerce.
A global ecosystem that shares space situational awareness data can secure a safe future for space, but much greater international coordination is needed, according to a new document from the Office of Space Commerce.
"It's not going to be like a 'boom' milestone delivery where one day there's nothing and the next day, there's a finished system," Richard DalBello, director of the Office of Space Commerce, said of the swap from DoD to Commerce.
A new "white paper" from Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, obtained by Breaking Defense, stresses the foundational role of timely space domain awareness in ensuring that Space Force commanders are not caught flat-footed by adversaries.
Standoff capability means warfighters stay connected and remain remotely located in a safer environment while making it harder for adversaries to target them.
"I would imagine that as Department of Commerce continues to mature this concept, we will definitely want to take advantage of what they're doing," said Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein.
While the new Russian satellite didn't get super close to any others, its behavior "could be considered unfriendly," said Slingshot's Audrey Schaffer, who until recently served as the director of space policy at the National Security Council.
"Commercial data, commercial processing is not classified. It does not matter that the DoD wishes it were," said Barbara Golf, special advisor to Space Systems Command.
The COMSPOC study included a look at risks from unannounced rendezvous and proximity operations — such as those being routinely performed by the Russian "inspector" satellite Luch/Olymp that have raised hackles at the Defense Department — and the risks to US military satellites cause by mis-plotting the trajectories of adversary birds.