Overclassification is the number one culprit limiting our ability to conduct operational cooperation in space with our allies, says, the top space policy official, at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense John F. Plumb during a speaking engagement as the Keynote for the 2024 Space Policy Symposium.
Space, conflicts, and commercialism
Plumb was sworn in as the assistant secretary of Defense for Space Policy, in March of 2022, right after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“The conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated to the entire world the essential role of space in modern warfare,” said Plumb. “Russia and China both know that space is essential to the US way of war, and they have developed a variety of means to attack our satellites. The United States Department of Defense is focused on China as our pacing challenge; space is both essential to deterring a potential conflict with China and prevailing if deterrence fails.”
The commercial space sector is innovating at a historical pace and scale, and the world is in a time of rapid change in the strategic space environment. Plumb recognizes that, and since his first day in the office, he has “hammered away” at three priorities, which he calls his ‘three c’s’; space control, space cooperation, and space classification.
Space Control
“The first C is for space control,” Plumb continued. “When I first arrived in the Pentagon in spring 2022, the DoD and the IC were just beginning a Space Strategic Review at the behest of the National Security Advisor. The SSR (“scissor”), as we called it, brought together stakeholders from across the national security space enterprise to assess how we matched up against the growing threats in the space domain. It was a collaborative but difficult process.”
Plumb stated that the SSR analysis confirmed that China is his department’s pacing challenge. Also confirmed, was that space is an operational domain that the US has national security interests in, and those need to be defended, and the threats that need to be countered are real.
“At the end of the process, and after many consultations between the Department and the National Security Council, the White House concurred with our analysis,” Plumb said. “As a result, last June, the President issued his Space Security Guidance, affirming the takeaways from the SSR, approving the Department’s strategic direction on space, and focusing our efforts.”
Space Cooperation
According to Plumb, his second C is for space cooperation.
Working with our allies broadens the number of systems collectively available for operations in space, both in orbit and on the ground.
“Space cooperation strengthens integrated deterrence, but only to the extent we can successfully work together in the space domain,” Plumb continued. “Today, combined military operations in space are a relatively new idea.”
The leading example of space cooperation is the Combined Space Operations Initiative.
The CSpO, formed 10 years ago, was created around the vision of improving cooperation, coordination, and interoperability to sustain freedom of action in space.
“Over the last two years, I have worked hard to take CSpO to the next level, expanding membership to Italy, Japan, and Norway, and focusing on the necessary groundwork to one day soon conduct true combined military operations in space,” explained Plumb.
Space Classification
Space classification describes what might be Plumb’s biggest frustration in the process of working with partners and allies.
“Our ability to work closely with allies and partners in the space domain, and our ability to use our space capabilities to protect and defend the Joint Force, requires the right information getting to the warfighter at operationally relevant speeds,” began Plumb on space classification. “But that information flow continues to be significantly hampered by the overclassification of space activities.”
Plumb said that his team spent more than a year completely rewriting a 20-year-old legacy space classification policy, which ‘reflected priorities of a different time and a different security environment’.
“That legacy policy limited our ability to share information within the Department, limited our ability to cooperate with our Allies and partners, and limited the ability of our industry partners to provide cost-effective and timely solutions to difficult problems,” Plumb stated. “It limited our ability to adequately plan and train for conflict. The truth is that over the past 20 years that policy has cost the Department both time and money, two scarce resources we cannot afford to squander.”
Plumb stated that after a ‘herculean’ effort by his team, stakeholders from the DoD and Intelligence community, along with Deputy Secretary Hicks, approved the entirely new space classification policy in December.
This new policy has led to a concerted effort across the Pentagon, to decrease the siloed nature of space activities.
The Newest and Fourth C
Commercial Space Integration, or the newest C for Plumb, is all about the Pentagon’s desire to harness the innovation of the commercial space sector.
Plumb admitted, during his keynote speech, that the two areas the Pentagon could certainly use help in are speed and cost-effectiveness.
During the last year, Plumb and his team engaged with space stakeholders across the DoD and interagency, as well as with commercial space entities. They hosted roundtables, exercises, and informational sessions to better understand commercial space solutions and how they could support the DOD.
The four lines of effort that Plumb and his team created were, to ensure access to commercial solutions during times of both peace and conflict, work to integrate commercial solutions before times of crisis, establish security conditions necessary to integrate commercial space solutions, and lastly, support the development of new commercial space capabilities that have the potential to support the Joint Force.
Plumb ended his keynote address by reminding the public that he will be stepping down from his role as the Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, in the next few weeks.
