WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense is pushing to lower classification barriers and forge closer partnerships with the commercial space industry, John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said Jan. 17.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Plumb shared that Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks late last year signed a memo that “removes legacy classification barriers that have inhibited our ability to collaborate across the U.S. government and also with allies on issues related to space.”
This does not mean classification is going away, Plumb clarified, but it indicates that DoD is taking a hard look at where secrecy might have gone overboard. In some areas, he said, reducing secrecy levels could actually help to enhance collaboration with allies and private industry without compromising sensitive information.
Sharing information about space threats is at the core of a new DoD international space cooperation strategy, Plumb said. “Our network of allies and partners is an asymmetric advantage” as China and Russia threaten to disrupt U.S. and allied satellites.
‘Commercial integration’ strategy
Plumb also highlighted his office’s work on a new strategy for integrating commercial space capabilities into defense programs. The strategy will set a high-level vision for harnessing innovation from the private sector, he said.
The U.S. Space Force is also drafting its own commercial integration plan, but Plumb stressed that the two documents are meant to be complementary. DoD and Space Force officials are collaborating closely on the strategies and these are not competing efforts, he said. “Just to be clear, We are working together to develop these two documents,” Plumb added. “I met with the Chief of Space Operations [Gen. Chance Saltzman] several times to make sure that we’re kind of hand in hand.”
Both commercial strategies are still being reviewed. “We’re hoping that they…
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