WASHINGTON — The chief of the U.S. Space Force said Feb. 13 the service’s long-awaited plan for partnering with private space companies is in its final stages, and currently is being coordinated with the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
The commercial strategy has been highly anticipated by companies across the space industry that seek more clarity around how they can compete for future contracts as the Space Force takes shape.
Space Force chief Gen. Chance Saltzman last year revealed his office was working on a blueprint to guide the Space Force’s integration of commercial satellite services into military activities, aiming to leverage private sector innovation to modernize legacy systems.
Speaking with reporters at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Warfare Conference in Aurora, Colorado, Saltzman said the commercial space strategy is very close to being completed.
“I’m hesitant to say imminent because I think I’ve said that too many times,” he commented. One reason for the latest delay is that it is being coordinated with the Pentagon’s space policy office, which has also been drafting a commercial space strategy.
“We wanted to synchronize with the secretary of defense’s staff that’s working on a commercial strategy, so we are making sure that our teams mesh together,” Saltzman said. “That’s kind of what the current delay is.”
Strategy needs to be ‘actionable’
Saltzman previously said he was not happy with early drafts of the strategy because it didn’t have specific enough guidance on what services, for example, the Space Force would outsource to the private sector, and he wanted the document to be more “actionable”.
Industry executives have said they want the Space Force to articulate a vision and create opportunities for private firms that are investing in satellites and other systems aimed at providing services to commercial and government customers.
Saltzman said…
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