Space Symposium Day 3

Below are unedited, real time notes taken during this morning’s sessions of Space Symposium day 3. Notes are from the keynote addresses and discussions with Dr. John Plumb, Frank Kendall, Gen Chance Saltzman, Dr. Derek Tournear, and Judith Collins.

10 April 2024

Keynote Featured Speaker

Frank Kendall, Secretary, USAF

LoE  1 Modernization

-I came in knowing we had a lot of modernization to do. Our military capabilities and joint force rely on space. Space order of battle alone…

-China has achieved space superiority if looking at numbers alone that are publicly available. China continues to lack transparency.

-Russia may not be the pacing challenge but it cannot be ignored. They have deployed an ASAT, laser weapons, ground based electronic warfare capabilities, cyber-attacks…

-Both Russia and China are investing in ground based PNT systems. They’re working to replace GPS. Both have tested ASAT tests. Info suggests China has the capability to deploy ASATs in higher orbits.

-Because of these threats my first priority has been modernization.

-We’ve received authorization to initiate a quick start program. Last week DAF was able to initiate two programs under this new authority. We will be discussing this publicly in the next few days.

LoE 2 Reoptimization Great Power Competition

-DAF is working to reoptimize with a focus on GPC.

-Our focus is on developing people, generating readiness, projecting power and developing capabilities tailored for GPC.

-We are looking at future capability developments as well. Space Futures Command.

-We are changing how we develop and train guardians.

-We just announced two dozen key decisions. It was only a few weeks ago we announced these but we’ve been working quickly. We just recently held a progress review.

LoE 3 Resources

-We’re just on the heels of passing FY24 six months late. FY24 we gave up a year of modernization lead time. It’s tough to win a race when you give the adversary such an advantage. The system as a whole has been holding us back.

Upcoming Budget & Future

-Under CR we couldn’t move forward with several efforts. FY25 is now with Congress.

-DAF is requesting an increase of 1.5%.

-Primary tradeoff between short, medium, and long term risks. Risk with China is increasing and we have to react. We’re trying to mitigate long term risks as well.

-If we fall behind, it will be very difficult if not impossible to recover.

-FY25 budget, with remaining resources, we’ve done all we can to ensure momentum behind modernization.

-In AF we had to make procurement reductions, F35, and other reductions as well. We took foundational accounts to lowest levels we’d deem acceptable. SF has much less trade space. Over 60% goes to R&D. SF missions become more complex, more important, and more challenging each day. SF is the smallest but perhaps most important.

-SF needed to embrace its joint role. First shot may be shot in space and it may be the decisive domain. The joint force will need to achieve victory together and we cannot do that without space.

-We’re in the process of increasing reliance on space. One team, one fight.

Three LoEs

-We have a long way to go but if we go together we will prevail.

-Gen Saltzman, we’ve been working together for over a year now and I believe we will continue to move SF forward together.

[End]

Keynote Featured Speaker

Gen B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, USSF

(You can find a copy of the USSF Commercial Space Strategy here: https://www.spaceforce.mil//Portals/2/Documents/Space%20Policy/USSF_Commercial_Space_Strategy.pdf)

Partnerships & Importance of Space

-We’re strengthening our international efforts to prevent a disaster in space. This includes full collaboration with industry partners as well. Space is so important to the joint fight.

-Our success on the battlefield is tied to our success in space. Today, space is like the eggs and batter. Once baked, it’s impossible to separate. We need space superiority.

-Space is important to not only the military but the economy and our way of life.

-Space capabilities and continued access is a vital US interest. Collaboration is essential.

GPC & Commercial

-As Russia has reminded us, war can return quickly and in unexpected ways.

-The military has hinged on the support of industry.

-Commercial capabilities can add extra capacity when needed. Space operations, we’ve become more comfortable with using commercial to add capacity.

USSF Commercial Space Strategy

-Released today, if you’re reading it expecting to find the answers you’ll be disappointed.

-If you understand effective integration will come from priorities and clear definitions to enhance collaboration, you’ll find it useful. It will show USSF’s relationship to industry in a new light.

-The strategy is dual signed by myself and Frank Calvelli. Together we’re going to ensure we’re optimizing resiliency and capability.

-The strategy follows OSD’s four guiding principles, balance, interoperability, resilience, and responsible conduct. These principles will assist decision makers.

-The strategy will be implemented across four LoEs. As we work these we will have to make tough choices on where to prioritize. We have constrained resources. We’re challenging our team to find how best we can leverage our resources.

-This strategy does not provide all the answers but it frames the discussions that must take place.

-Commercial Space Office and our Front Door, drop by their booths.

LoE 1 Collaborative Transparency

-By building partnerships, USSF will enhance competitive advantage with an understanding of commercial culture, structure, and solutions. If industry doesn’t understand our challenges they cant contribute and if we don’t understand commercial we can’t effectively leverage

LoE 2 Operational and Technical Integration

-This will require unity of effort.

-We described and prioritized mission areas where we see best opportunities for commercial.

LoE 3 Risk Management

-Being a part of a hybrid architecture means being a part of the mission through peacetime and conflict.

-USSF will make sure stakeholders understand the risks and mitigation

LoE 4 Securing the Future

-USSF will continue to seek out emerging technologies.

-USSF will prioritize S&T efforts and optimize for fielding capabilities on relevant timelines.

Assessment Criteria

-Operational Utility: We are not just buying things because we can. We are buying what can directly enable us.

-Feasibility: Exploiting capability at sufficient value.

-Resiliency by Design: Capabilities ability to contribute to resilience. Capabilities that can protect themselves…cyber defense capabilities…

-Speed to Fielding: Time matters because we’re running out. Time from concept to capability is important.

Guardians

-We are ensuring our future success by tapping into talent, our number one resource, Guardians.

-Guardian Field Forum, great ideas that we’re still sifting through. This year’s forum was great. I’m inspired and impressed.

[End]

Keynote Featured Speaker

Hon. Judith Collins, Space Minister, New Zealand

Benefits of New Zealand Space Activities

-We have no nearby neighbors. We have clear vast skies. We are geographically located in a great position.

-NZ has become the fourth most frequent launching state in the world. That’s fourth behind the US, China, and Russia.

-Beyond launches, industry is conducting technology that’s changing the game.

-NZ is the perfect location for hosting ground-based infrastructure.

-Our natural landscape provides a great place for testing.

-Rocket Lab demonstrates the quality of NZ space.

-Benefits of launching from and working with NZ… our partnership with the US… it’s all built on mutual trust. You can rest easy knowing we take our role in sensitive technologies seriously. We’ve shown ourselves to be a trusted and responsible partner. We recognize the responsibility we have in making sure space remains peaceful and safe for all.

-We’re active participants in UN committee on PUOS.

-NZ supports partnerships between research, international, and industry.

-NZ can make real contributions such as research to advanced population, SSA, earth observations…

[End]

Space Policy

Dr. John Plumb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, DOD

Role of Space in Modern Warfare

-Russia and China know space is essential to war. DOD is focused on China as our central challenge. Space is essential for deterrence and prevailing if deterrence fails.

-We’re in a time of rapid change in the strategic environment.

Priorities

-Space Control, Space Cooperation, Space Classification, Commercial Space Integration

-There’s an urgency to these priorities.

Space Control

-Analysis confirmed China is the country’s pacing challenge. It also confirmed space is an operational domain that needs to be defended. At the end of the process, the President released its space guidance and focused our efforts. As we implement this, deterring in space will be through resilience.

-With resilient architectures we can continue to provide the critical services the joint force relies upon. It will deter adversaries.

-IC assesses that today China’s architecture can support tracking and targeting across the Pacific. This challenges the US in that region.

-US will protect and defend our people just as we do in other domains. As part of the government integrated deterrence strategy, we will rely on counterspace options if necessary.

Space Cooperation

-With cooperation we strengthen resilience and expand our options. Space cooperation strengthens integrated deterrence.

-Combined Space Operations initiative. Over the last two years I’ve worked hard to move this forward and expand the groundwork necessary.

-USSPACECOM is now leading the way with Operation Olympic Defender.

-We’re also investing in bilateral cooperation. We advanced discussions with India, Japan, and Norway.

-Space cooperation is not just about working with allies and partners. It’s also a tool we use with competitors to avoid misunderstandings.

-Discussions with China, we both want a safe domain and we will both benefit by continuing to talk. US and Russia will continue ISS despite their invasion of Ukraine.

-Department supports work of verifiable norms. We hope more countries will make the same ASAT commitment and support the UN initiative on no nukes in space. No nation should pursue this.

Space Classification

-Information flow continues to be significantly hampered by overclassification. We’re working to fix this. We spent a year completely rewriting a space classification policy which was limiting our abilities to communicate and collaborate and plan for conflict. That policy has cost the Department both time and money. Hicks approved our new policy in December.

-Services are reviewing programs that can have a reduced classification level. Our goal is to enable better integration of space.

Commercial Space Integration

-Over the past several years, commercial has been nothing short of breathtaking.

-April 2 we released DOD Commercial Space Integration Strategy. The degree of which commercial can benefit national security, it will depend on how well the Department can integrate in those capabilities.

-My team engaged with stakeholders across the enterprise to better understand how commercial solutions can support the Department.

-Strategy elements: commercial access, integration prior to crisis and during, working to establish security conditions necessary, creating and supporting norms, financial protection, supporting new commercial space capabilities.

-Strategy is unclassified. We will be transparent. I’m confident this strategy will pay dividends for years to come.

-I will be stepping down in the next few weeks. It’s been the honor of a lifetime.  Thank you.

[End]

One on One

Dr. Derek Tournear, Director, Space Development Agency

Space Development Agency Today

-T0 is on orbit now. We have sats doing comms, 19 of those. We have eight tracking. Last launch was on Valentine’s Day of this year.

-We demonstrated link16 from space last November. This was critical. We were able to connect about 50% of the time for 30 seconds. Now we have about 100% basically no failure, and connectivity.

-SpaceX birds, they’re collecting tracking data. Expect launches soon.

-We’re launching T1 shortly.

Budget Effects

-Delay did impact us. We had our Gamma solicitation held up until the budget passed. Once it was passed that same week we went out with the solicitation.

SDA Systems vs Legacy Systems

-In 2019, this was all a big shift. We’re doing this to provide beyond line of sight targeting and hypersonic glide vehicles beyond line of sight. We’re doing this with proliferation and spiral development. This is very different.

-Spirals are done every two years

JADC2 & PWSA

-JADC2 is a complicated system to build but easy to understand. PWSA allows warfighters to connect via existing radios. That means Army, Navy, AF, they don’t have to worry about translating data. There’s a lot of pieces and parts to this. It’s not simple but we’re enabling the pieces and parts.

DOD Collaboration

-We have agreements signed with Army, Navy to make sure they’ll utilize us.

-We have OMAs signed. We have an agreement with our optical terminals.

-Outside of DOD there are a lot of people who have been helping us. NSA, they have really been a strong partner with us on the PWSA. It’s a completely new way of doing business. We had to work with them on a networking system.

International Partners

-We’re doing link16 testing with a Five Eyes partner right now. We’re testing over one right now. You can take a guess.

-We’ve been in their country starting in November through Christmas break then went back out to our partner and started the test up again.

-We have NATO partners we’re working with too. Shout out to our Norwegian partners. They’ve been an exceptional partner.

-NATO is using link16 so they’re partnered with us to test from SDA constellation directly into other countries’ forces. We’re excited about that. They’ve been willing, leaning forward, and pushing.

End Users

-This is one of our main points, we want to go down to existing, fielded equipment. If we require everyone to buy new kits it would never work. That’s why we’re using link16.

-KA will require new systems. USSF pushing for new terminals. It can go to commercial A, B, C, and eventually it’ll be done autonomously. SF is developing the hybrid satcom terminal. Navy has their own version.

-We’re also looking at laser comms. It will go down to a few key assets first and then we’ll expand.

Investments Commercial Should Make

-We have an investment roadmap of technology areas that we expect industry to have ready by T3, T4, etc.

-SDA.mil look there. Also look at SDA.mil/careers because we’re looking for talent. We’re looking for good people to pull in that want to go fast and deliver.

[End]