U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) is planning a third increment for its Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) Mission System (JMS), command chief Navy Adm. Cecil Haney said Feb. 6.
JMS is a space situational awareness (SSA) effort providing a command and control (C2) capability for the commander, Joint Functional Component Command (CDR JFCC SPACE), according to the federal government’s information technology (IT) dashboard website. JMS is predominantly a software effort that will produce an integrated, net-centric service oriented architecture (SOA) and the necessary software applications to accomplish required missions.
JSpOC provides notifications to governments and commercial satellite owner/operators of potentially hazardous conjunctions, or collisions, between orbiting objects. This provides the satellite owner/operators with information to decide whether to move a satellite to prevent a collision.
There are two existing increments for JMS. Increment 1, which was approved for IOC in April 2013, addresses two key pieces of system architecture: the User-Defined Operational Picture (UDOP) and architectural elements, allowing for a net-centric, service-oriented architecture.
JMS Increment 2 is focused on replacing and improving the capabilities currently residing on the Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC) legacy computer system. This includes implementing a high-accuracy space catalog, increasing catalog size, improved conjunction assessment and improved event processing using a combination of existing commercial and government-developed software. Increment 2 is scheduled to achieve IOC in 2016, according to STRATCOM spokesman Navy Capt. Pamela Kunze.
Haney said he’s confident IOC will happen in 2016.
“The reason why I don’t have all those dates memorized is because when things are on plan, I go work on something else,” Haney told an audience at a Peter Huessy congressional breakfast series event in Washington.
Risk reduction activities for Increment 2 have been underway since early 2012 and operational integration efforts for Increment 2 began in April 2013 after receiving Milestone B approval. JMS is located at Vandenberg AFB, Calif.