Exploiting Commercial Space
February 21, 2024
Dear Chairman Reed and Ranking Member Wicker:
To remain a lean service and garner the capabilities needed to maintain our nation’s advantage in space, the Space Force needs to buy available commercial space services, integrate those capabilities into organic Space Force capabilities, and deliver those forces to Combatant Commands. Buying services, where available, is a responsible way to garner capability rapidly and free limited resources to develop capabilities only for missions where no commercial services exist. Therefore, the Air and Space Forces Association (AFA) respectfully requests that Congress further increase funding for the purchase of Space Domain Awareness (SDA), Space Mobility & Logistics (SML), and for Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance & Tracking (TSRT) products and services to encourage private investment in these areas of the space warfighting domain.
In line with the first component of the Chief of Space Operations’ (CSO’s) Completive Endurance, “Avoid Operational Surprise”, SDA is the foundation of avoiding operational surprise in the ever growing competitive, congested, and contested space domain. Employing diverse commercial services complicates potential adversary targeting challenges and ensures persistence for critical missions. Last year, Congress increased the United States Space Force (“USSF”) budget by $18 million to purchase commercial data to improve SDA.
SML is one of five core competencies of the USSF, defined in the Space Capstone Publication: Space Power Doctrine for Space Forces. SML is the movement and support of military equipment and personnel into the space domain, through the space domain, and from the space domain back to Earth. Accordingly, Congress provided an additional $30 million in FY’24.
Finally, TSRT opportunities to acquire space-enabled surveillance, reconnaissance and tracking are robust and expanding.
Therefore, the AFA respectfully requests that Congress further increase funding for the purchase of SDA, SML, and TSRT products and services to encourage private investment in these areas of the space warfighting domain.
Sincerely,
Bernie Skoch, Brig Gen, USAF (Ret.)
Chair of the Board
Bruce “Orville” Wright, Lt Gen, USAF (Ret.)
President & CEO