The United States Space Force opened a new office earlier this month that allows it to partner with the private sector to aid in the adoption of new technologies. Space Systems Command (SSC) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly established Commercial Space Marketplace for Innovation and Collaboration (COSMIC) in Chantilly, VA on Tuesday, June 6.
The aptly-named COSMIC is a partnership between SSC and Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC), and it facilitates SSC collaboration with the commercial industry, drives synergies with government agency partners, and delivers capabilities to the warfighter with greater speed and cost efficiency.
“Everything here today is about partnerships,” said U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, SSC, commander. “Whether you are in government, a civilian, an ally, or a commercial partner, we’re all on the adversaries’ threat list. We’re all operating in the exact same environment, subject to the exact same physics, trying to vie for the exact same spectrum allocation. We are all fighting the same fight.”
COSMIC was created in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). It is now the latest initiative from the SSC’s newly rebranded and expanded Commercial Space Office (COMSO), which has a focus on facilitating commercial technology, and service transfer to enable “fight tonight” capabilities to the Space Force.
COSMIC HQ
While SSC is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, the newly created COSMIC office is located in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.
“The National Capital Region is a sweet spot for connecting with government agencies in the intelligence community as well as with key space agencies such as NASA and the Space Development Agency,” said United States Space Force Col. Rich Kniseley, senior material leader in charge of the COMSO. “It’s also a major hub for commercial space industry companies.”
In addition to 10,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space and commercial outreach services, the COSMIC collaboration will include data analytics and operational analysis, access to market research, and technology transfer and transition advisement provided by VT-ARC, a non-profit corporation affiliated with Virginia Tech, the Space Force announced.
“We are at a pivotal moment in time where the United States is faced with growing strategic military competition,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Janelle T. H. Jackson, AFRL Office of Scientific Research, acting director, said during the ribbon cutting. “Our competitors and adversaries are rapidly moving to challenge and surpass the U.S. science and technology advantage and gain superiority in the air and space domains. Taking an integrative approach by partnering with industry and academia are one of many ways we can lead the challenge.”
The Private Sector and Space Force
Throughout the U.S. military’s history, the private sector has been there to provide support. Space Force will just be the latest service to seek such assistance.
“This ability to use resources outside of the government to identify and work on mitigating future threats has been tested and found to be unusually beneficial,” explained technology industry analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.
“Space X has showcased that a private company can do what NASA did less and more quickly. It just makes sense to leverage the faster-moving private sector when trying to anticipate future threats,” Enderle told ClearanceJobs. “They should be able to provide insight into technologies that the government isn’t expert in, yet that could be used effectively as weapons or defenses against those weapons and better prepare the nation for future threats.”
Calling Upon the Private Sector
As SpaceNews.com also reported, COMSO is an umbrella organization for a number of existing units including the Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO), the Space Domain Awareness Marketplace, the SSC Front Door, SpaceWERX, and the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve program (CASR).
The CASR has already been tasked with ways to partner with commercial space companies, which could enable their respective services to be utilized during national security emergencies.
COMSO is seeking to attract commercial vendors while creating demand from military users. However, as was reported, the marketplace has so far failed to generate significant revenue – and Space Force has thus far not taken full advantage of the commercial capabilities. COSMIC could seek to address that, and COMSO next looks to hold another round of discussions with industry executives in July.
