The recently released, first-of-its-kind U.S. Space Force (USSF) Commercial Space Strategy (CSS)  serves as an extension of the also much anticipated Commercial Space Integration Strategy, released by the Department of Defense in early April 2024 (weeks before the release of the USSF CSS). The DoD strategy document outlines the “broad guidance for where and why the Pentagon will try to increase its use of commercial space technologies.”  Details here.

In short, think of the USSF CSS as the “drill down” document on how the Space Force will operationalize, with acquisitions at its core, the ideas laid out in this DoD integrative strategy document. 

New DoD commercial space strategy opens the door to military financial protection for contractors

“…contracts with commercial space providers could ‘enable prioritization of Department requirements and capability needs over other commercial clients in specific situations.'”

As reported by Breaking Defense:  “The Pentagon’s long-awaited “Commercial Space Integration Strategy” opens the possibility that military force could be used to protect US commercial space operators and suggests that the Defense Department will provide financial support to contractors providing space services.  The document, released today by outgoing Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb, is the first of its kind — although senior DoD and Intelligence Community officials have been touting their intent for years to take better advantage of cutting-edge commercial space technology. The strategy, therefore, breaks little new ground but does put a formal stamp of approval on efforts that, up to now, have been ad hoc and scattered across different services and organizations.  

…the new Pentagon strategy has been coordinated with a separate Space Force commercial space strategy…Plumb told reporters…that the strategies will be ‘very much aligned.'”  Plumb stressed that the strategy is aimed beyond the usual defense industrial base to the broader commercial market, looking to leverage tech and capabilities not designed from inception for government use.  While acknowledging some ‘inherent risk’ in relying on commercial systems, involving trade-offs between speed and security, the strategy also stresses risk in failing to harness commercial ‘innovation and speed.’

New Space Strategy Looks to Integrate DOD, Commercial Efforts

“The strategy is based on the premise that the commercial space sector’s innovative capabilities, scalable production, and rapid technology…enhance the resilience of DOD space capabilities…”

• Increasingly, the commercial space sector is developing capabilities and services that have the potential to support national security.
• The commercial space integration strategy is in line with the National Defense Strategy and builds on the realization that the private sector is driving innovation and agility in the business of space.
• While in the past, the U.S. government was the only entity big enough to shoulder the risk of space flight and space products, private firms now handle an increasing amount of space business. 
• There are hundreds of firms specializing in launches, building space capabilities, setting up space networks, and much more. The strategy is a clear indication that the department wants to work with commercial firms across the spectrum of space.
• The strategy is based on the premise that the commercial space sector’s innovative capabilities, scalable production, and rapid technology refresh rates provide pathways to enhance the resilience of DOD space capabilities and strengthen deterrence, officials said, speaking on background. 

DoD Releases 2024 DoD Commercial Space Integration Strategy

“The deeper integration of commercial space solutions represents a conceptual shift away from legacy practices…”

[on April 2nd]…the Department of Defense released the 2024 DoD Commercial Space Integration Strategy. In line with the National Security Strategy and the 2022 National Defense Strategy, this strategy seeks to align the Department’s efforts and drive more effective integration of commercial space solutions into national security space architectures.

This strategy identifies four top-level priorities that the Department will pursue to maximize the benefits of integrating commercial space solutions:

1.  Ensure access to commercial solutions across the spectrum of conflict;
2.  Achieve integration prior to crisis;
3.  Establish the security conditions to integrate commercial space solutions; and
4. Support the development of new commercial space solutions for use by the joint force.

The Department will adhere to four foundational principles in its strategy: balance, interoperability, resilience, and responsible conduct. These principles will ensure commercial solutions are integrated into national security space architecture.

Excerpts:  Department of Defense 2024 Commercial Space Integration Strategy

Introduction

• The deeper integration of commercial space solutions represents a conceptual shift away from legacy practices, in which the Department relies on bespoke, DoD-specific capabilities and limits the use of commercial solutions.
• Given the expansion of the commercial space sector and the proliferation of space capabilities, the Department will benefit by making commercial solutions integral — and not just supplementary — to national security space architectures. 
• To integrate commercial space solutions, the Department will work with commercial entities to mitigate risk as necessary and accept risk where appropriate.
• Such integration will help deny adversaries the benefits of attacks against national security space systems and contribute to a safe, secure, stable, and sustainable space domain. 

Principles

Source:  DoD Commercial Space Integration Strategy

Mission Areas

There are currently 13 mission areas for National Security Space: 

• Combat Power Projection; Command and Control (C2);
• Cyberspace Operations;
• Electromagnetic Warfare (EW);
• Environmental Monitoring (EM);
• Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR);
• Missile Warning (MW);
• Nuclear Detonation Detection (NUDET);
• Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT);
• Space Access, Mobility, and Logistics (SAML);
• Satellite Communications (SATCOM);
• Space Domain Awareness (SDA); and
• Spacecraft Operations

• Government Primary Mission Areas, in which “a preponderance of functions must be performed by the government, while a select few could be performed by the commercial sector.” These missions include: “combat power projection; C2 (to include NC3); EW; NUDET; MW; and PNT.”
• Hybrid Mission Areas include “cyberspace operations; SATCOM; spacecraft operations; ISR; SDA; and EM.”
• Commercial Primary Mission Areas are those where “the preponderance of functions within these mission areas could be performed by the commercial sector, while a limited number of functions must be performed by the government.” SAML is the only mission included in this category. At the same time, the strategy notes that “emerging commercially developed mission areas, such as in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM), may provide additional opportunities in the future to support the warfighter.”

You can read a copy of the strategy here.

What Next? Annex A –  Financial Protection Against Risks 

‘Ensured Access’ Through Financial, Military Means

“…the new Pentagon strategy somewhat cryptically states that…military force could be employed ‘to protect and defend commercial assets.’”

From Breaking Defense: 

Perhaps of most interest to industry is the strategy’s section on how DoD intends to “ensure” its “access” to commercial capabilities, including “being able to surge commercial capacity to meet military requirements and capability needs across the spectrum of conflict.”  First and foremost, DoD intends to rely on contracts and other agreements to bind suppliers, including “cyber, data, and supply chain security requirements.” In addition, the strategy says that if deemed necessary, “contracts will enable prioritization of Department requirements and capability needs over other commercial clients in specific situations.”

The planned use of contractual clauses to give the government power to appropriate commercial space products, data, and services mimics the somewhat controversial practice at the National Reconnaissance Office for obtaining private-sector remote sensing imagery — sometimes called “checkbook shutter control.”

To sweeten the bitter pill, the strategy says that DoD is considering several methodologies for providing financial incentives and assurances to commercial providers:

• Commercial entities employing solutions in support of military operations accept risk. Traditional commercial insurance, commercial war-risk insurance, U.S. Government-provided insurance, and indemnification, as defined in the statute, are all possible financial protection tools to mitigate that risk.
• U.S. government-provided insurance is statutorily available for the air and maritime domains but not yet for the space domain. The Department will evaluate gaps in protection from commercial insurance providers, the conditions under which U.S. Government-provided insurance would be needed for the space domain, and whether those conditions have been met.  

This issue of shutter control and financial compensation, including indemnification, has also been a key debate in the Space Force’s effort to develop a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR) concept.

CASR is still in development, with Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office planning its next engagement with industry on the issue in September, according to the office’s director, Col. Rich Kniseley.

The office is “working on several plans for CASR including an Incentive Plan, Surveillance and Inspection Plan, Threat Sharing Plan, Acquisition Strategy and subsequent plans for contracting, programming and budgeting. We will continue to share these plans with industry as they near-final draft stages, through various Reverse Industry Days and Requests for Information,” he told Breaking Defense in a March 18 email.

Finally, the new Pentagon strategy somewhat cryptically states that in some circumstances military force could be employed “to protect and defend commercial assets.” It does not, however, define those circumstances. DoD and the Intelligence Community have been working to agree when and how commercial space operators might be protected for the past two years.  In his briefing today, Plumb declined to be drawn into “hypotheticals” about if and when military force could be used to defend commercial satellites, for instance.

Further OODA Loop Resources 

For additional OODA Loops News Briefs and Original Analysis on Space Exploration, go to OODA Loop | Space

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Commercial Space: Innovation, Regulation, and International Collaboration:   The upcoming OODAcon 2023 panel – “The Space Edge – Defining New Opportunities, Economies, and Risks” – will dig deep into the emerging opportunities, economies, and risks associated with the rapid development of space-based technologies, resource acquisition, and shift from the public to private sector.  After decades of stagnation, space innovation keeps pushing the boundaries of the possible, with new firsts emerging every month. Following is a compilation of OODA Loop’s original analysis and resources on the revolution evolution of the Commercial Space industry sector.

The Future of Space: National Security, Cybersecurity, and AI/ML: Exploring the new national security and economic realities of The New Space Rush will be the closing keynote discussion with Lisa Costa, the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of the US Space Force at OODAcon 2023.  Following is a compilation of recent OODA analyses of the future of space, national security, cybersecurity artificial intelligence, and machine learning.  

Space Exploration Milestones of Note in 2023:  A compilation of the space exploration milestones featured here at OODA Loop in 2023.