Ms. Katharine Kelley, the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Human Capital with the United States Space Force, recently announced the military’s newest service was engaged in a pilot program called the Defense Civilian Training Corps (DCTC). While similar to the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), the DCTC is a congressionally mandated initiat…

In November 2022, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering commissioned the Defense Science Board (DSB) to study the commercial space market and how their systems can be leveraged to support Department of Defense (DOD) objectives. The study came in direct response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year, when commercial…

Over the past decade, China’s rapid rise in adopting and deploying innovative technologies has sparked a new “Great Power Competition,” particularly in the space domain. According to Major General Gregory J Gagnon, the chief intelligence officer for the United States Space Force, China’s “strategic breakout” in space is evident by the country’s mor…

It's been one year since Chief of Space Operations, General B. Chance Saltzman, announced the United States Space Force was creating “Integrated Mission Deltas,” or IMDs, as part of the service's Line of Effort #3 – Partner to Win edict. The new IMD model serves as a primary example of how the Space Force is leveraging partnerships internally to en…

SpaceWERX, the space innovation arm of AFWERX, recently announced the nine recipients of its first funding opportunity specifically tailored to bring space capabilities across the ‘Valley of Death,’ or the difficult transition of scaling a high-potential capability into a formal program of record. The funding opportunity comes through two programs:…

When Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks signed a memo to initiate changes in the Department of Defense’s (DOD) classification policy for space programs, the move marked a tangible moment in the push to adapt traditional classification policies for a modern space era. Historically, high classification thresholds for space-based capabilities …

From satellite imagery to G.P.S.-guided navigation, intelligence gathered from space has long facilitated military operations. But after space was declared a warfighting domain, intelligence agencies are now shifting their focus to supporting operations in space. For the United States Space Force, this shift is exemplified by the evolving mission c…

Considered the ‘backbone’ of space operations, the Satellite Control Network (SCN) is the network of ground system antennas that enable command and control communications between operators on Earth and the Department of Defense (DOD) satellites on-orbit. But an increasingly populated space environment, coupled with chronic under-funding and advanci…

At the start of 2024, the United States’ adversaries projected an ambitious launch cadence for putting space assets into orbit: China has planned 100 launches, while Russia has planned over 40 launches of its own. Due to what is often blurred lines between military, civil and commercial space programs for these nation-states, the true nature of the…

The strength of America’s defense industrial base propelled the United States and its Allies to victory through much of the 20th century. Then after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the U.S. became the sole world power and made changes to the acquisition process that favored perceived efficiency, over military effectiveness. In the …

The power of integrating space-based capabilities into Joint Force operations captivated the world during the first “space war,” the Gulf War of 1990-1991. Since then, space’s significance to military operations has only increased, accelerating through the post-9/11 era and culminating with the creation of the United States Space Force in 2019. Now…

Two barriers to entry have historically defined the relationship between capital markets and the space sector: the need for significant upfront capital and long return on investment (ROI) timelines. These barriers have created a hot-and-cold dynamic between capital markets and the space sector, as demonstrated by Space Capital’s Space Investment Qu…

The majority of military space assets on-orbit today, were built during an uncontested space era, and the ground systems currently supporting them are increasingly inhibited by outdated technology. Now, an emerging imperative for dynamic space operations, means the Space Force must not only develop new, manueverable satellites, but also implement a…

Space Systems Command recently revealed details from its Parallax Rising 2.2 tabletop exercise, which explored the emerging requirement to maneuver satellites in space. The exercise focused on developing solutions for “Dynamic Space Operations,” an operational concept advocated by retired Lieutenant General John E. Shaw. While the capacity to maneu…

As space evolves into an increasingly hostile warfighting domain, rapid response capability is becoming an essential part of Department of Defense (DOD) operations. That’s why when the Space Force and its industry partners successfully fielded, launched and initiated satellite operations during its Victus Nox demonstration, the record-setting feat …

Cyberspace has become essential to streamlining decision-making up and down the kill chain. But now, the threat landscape in the cyber domain is more malicious than ever. In response, the DOD is implementing its Zero-Trust Strategy by 2027 to secure its cyber operations. As part of this process, the DOD rolled out the Cybersecurity Maturity Model C…

As the legislative branch with the “power of the purse,” Congress has a constitutional duty to shape the policy and provide the funding required for the United States Space Force to accomplish its mission. Space, however, is an emerging domain for the warfighter that requires the Space Force to scale its capability at the speed of need. To this end…

In 2023, the Space Development Agency (SDA) launched its initial round of satellites for its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) with the intention of modernizing the missile warning architecture watching over our nation. The SDA followed this up with a second successful launch in September 2023, with one final launch for its Tranche …

Earlier this year, Col. Richard Kniseley of the United States Space Systems Command initiated a program for commercial space companies to be called upon by the United States Space Force in times of crisis. This program, dubbed the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve - or CASR for short - is akin to the United States Air Force’s Civil Reserve Air …

Since the launch of ChatGPT in March 2023, generative artificial intelligence has seemingly taken the world by storm. AI has become a topic of conversation - and concern - for its potential to affect just about every industry. In response, the Department of Defense has launched "Task Force Lima" to understand the ramifications and use cases for AI …