The Air Force is in the initial planning stages for a single, unified satellite ground system architecture that will harness open systems to exercise command and control (C2) during conflict that may extend to space.

Air Force Lt. Gen. David Buck, the new 14th Air Force commander and Joint Functional Component Command (JFCC) for Space chief, said Friday the service’s current satellite ground systems are stovepiped by mission area, which requires individualized operating systems and procedures. The current systems, he said, were also developed for use in a permissive space environment, which has clearly changed.

2nd Lt. Melissa Huffman, a collections analyst for 614th Air and Space Operations Center, reviews data received on the Delta II site at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Photo: Air Force.
2nd Lt. Melissa Huffman, a collections analyst for 614th Air and Space Operations Center, reviews data received on the Delta II site at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Photo: Air Force.

The service, in response, is creating Enterprise Ground Services (EGS). Led by Air Force Space and Missile Systems Command (AFSMC) and its various program offices, EGS will be an enterprise solution with more access to data and a heavy emphasis on warfighter capability, Buck said. He added that EGS must take advantage of commercial software development practices focused on improving quality and reducing development time and costs.

Buck said the requirement to sustain satellite operations through potential conflict may drive the Air Force to base EGS on a private cloud computing model. This is still to be decided, he said. The service also wants to own the technical baseline and for EGS and open competition for future increments to meets its framework. No single contractor, he said, should have control over the architecture and as the environment changes, the Air Force doesn’t want to be beholden to outdated applications.

“Contractor and government teams should be able to adjust the software and applications to meet current needs without starting from scratch,” Buck said a Peter Huessy breakfast series event on Capitol Hill. “There still will be competition for initial fielding, however, owning the baseline allows for competition for subsequent iterations.”

The goal is to deliver EGS before stovepipes recapitalize. Buck said because EGS is still in the early acquisition phase, he didn’t have many further details about the system. The goal is to have agile, automated, resilient architecture for a contested space environment, Buck said.