COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) recently set up a new office to “synchronize” its various efforts in tapping into the commercial space sector, better focus its requirements for commercial needs, and further leverage what that market has to offer, the command’s top official said this week.
The Commercial Integration Office was stood up on March 28 within USSPACECOM’s headquarters in Colorado Springs and coordinates the satellite communications efforts the command has at Vandenberg, AFB in California with space domain awareness work it does with the commercial sector here, Army Gen. James Dickinson, commander of USSPACECOM, said April 18 at a media briefing during the Space Symposium here.
“So as a combatant command…there has to be an overarching requirements developer or a requirements builder, if you will, that we’re able to say, ‘Okay, this is what we need and this is how you can contribute to it,” he said.
So far, things are going “well” and more companies are showing interest, Dickinson said.
Vandenberg is home to the Combined Space Operations Center Commercial Integration Cell, which began as a pilot in 2015, and allows for constant exchanges about technology and operations between the center and commercial satellite owners and operators.
“U.S. Space Command currently partners with 10 commercial companies through the Commercial Integration Cell at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calf.,” a USSPACECOM spokesperson said. “The command is currently pursuing eight additional partnerships with commercial companies.”
The goal is to have access to current capabilities or those that will be available soon, Dickinson said.
U.S. Space Systems Command, the research, development and acquisition arm of the U.S. Space Force, has had a commercial innovation office for years. Based on commercial industry feedback, the Space Systems Command is now standing up a new office as a “front door” to make it easier for new entrants to “engage with the government,” Maj. Gen. Steven Whitney, military deputy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, told reporters on Wednesday.
Whitney is responsible for research, development, acquisition and support of Space Force programs.