Space Force, DOD Initiate New Partnerships to Enhance Mission Readiness

Integrated Mission Deltas, Inter-agency Agreements Extend Readiness Across Time Horizons

In the spirit of the United States Space Force’s Line of Effort #3 – Partner to Win, Chief of Space Operations General B. Chance Saltzman announced last year the Space Force was creating “Integrated Mission Deltas,” or IMDs, a new organizational structure designed to integrate teams of specialized personnel focused on specific space mission areas. The new IMD model was a break from traditional Department of Defense (DOD) organizational structures, which favored delineating responsibilities based on their functional purpose, like operations and acquisition. Under the traditional model, operations and acquisition personnel would operate in a separate and independent manner to achieve their respective outcomes, often against different readiness time horizons: operations personnel prioritized sustaining capability for the near-term threat, while acquisitions personnel prioritized funding for developing future capabilities. Now, the innovative IMD model demonstrates one of the many ways the Space Force – and the DOD writ large – is initiating new partnerships to ensure mission readiness across time horizons to be responsive to the threat. 

“In the traditional model, having operations and acquisition personnel in two different organizations creates gaps between priorities,” said Major General (Ret) Kim Crider, Founding Partner at Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy. “Now, the IMD’s ability to prioritize mission requirements under one leadership chain has proven to be highly valuable, not to mention the cultural benefits in creating an esprit de corps and unity of effort around a specific mission set.” 

The first space mission areas to serve as prototype IMDs were Space Delta 3 for Space Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) and the Provisional Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Delta.  

Prior to these IMDs, Space Operations Command (SpOC) was responsible for assigning personnel and training across the Space Force, while Space Systems Command (SSC) oversaw the acquisition and sustainment of the systems those personnel used. But now, operations and acquisition personnel work side-by-side under a single Delta Commander to ensure readiness for a specific space mission area. 

“An Integrated Mission Delta empowers the Commander to be more decisive in how their forces prioritize and respond to the threat,” Gen Crider said. “Acquisition personnel can now collaborate directly with the system operators and industry partners within the Delta to sustain their system with new improvements. So the IMD approach enhances readiness across the spectrum by rapidly integrating new innovation for their deployed capabilities.” 

New Partnerships within the Space Force 

The IMD model is the leading example of how the Space Force is internally creating new partnerships within its mission areas. The EW mission was chosen as a prototype IMD because Delta 3 already had a team responsible for capabilities like the Counter Communications System (CCS) Block 10.2, a portable EW system that reversibly denies adversary satellite communications. 

“Delta 3 operates with deployed teams and equipment responsible for maintaining both defensive and offensive electronic warfare capabilities,” Gen Crider said. “Now, those teams are formally built into an organizational construct that can reinforce that Commander’s responsibility for not just sustaining that capability, but also evolving it as well.” 

The IMD concept, however, goes beyond integrating personnel from operations and acquisition, by including other specialized functions like cybersecurity and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Due to the inherently integrated nature of the space domain, cybersecurity and ISR personnel can provide critical threat assessments that inform how the Delta Commander prioritizes mission requirements. 

For example, squadrons from Space Delta 6 for Space Access and Cyberspace Operations and Space Delta 7 for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, can each have personnel embedded within Delta 3 to apply their specialized skills explicitly for the purpose of preserving capability in an ever-changing EW threat landscape. 

“Delta 3 already had an ISR unit connected to the EW team, but they weren’t officially part of that command structure as a specific squadron underneath the Delta 3 Commander,” Gen Crider said. “Now, ISR personnel within that Delta are steeped in the EW mission area to ensure any threats to the mission are driven back into the planning, testing, training, operating and sustaining of the EW capability.”  

In the year since its implementation, the new IMD models have largely been praised as a success by their respective Commanders. As such, the Space Force recently announced missile warning and space domain awareness as the next mission areas for IMDs.  

“By all accounts, IMDs have been successful in facilitating higher performance and readiness levels, rapid response to changing requirements and added flexibility for the Commander to determine priorities,” Gen Crider said. “So expanding the IMD model to space domain awareness is a high priority because we have to know what’s going on in the domain to respond to the threat, and integrating cyber and ISR into missile warning is critical to preserving the capability of those systems, as well.”  

New Partnerships with Combatant Commands 

The Space Force, however, is not limiting its new partnerships to just internal efforts, as the military’s newest service is actively standing up space components to support various Combatant Commands across the DOD. While initially prioritizing service components to Space Command, Indo-Pacific Command and European Command, among others, the Space Force also announced it is exploring what a space component to Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) might look like in the future. 

“It will be interesting to see how the Space Force will bring a service component to Cyber Command, because most of its current service components today are focused on delivering warfighting capacity to attack or defend in cyber,” said Lieutenant General (Ret) Kevin McLaughlin, Partner at Elara Nova. “So now, the Space Force has the chance to mature its capability to defend cyber-related terrain in the space domain, as well as the potential to augment that defensive cyber capability with an offensive capacity.”  

As the Combatant Command responsible for incorporating cyber capabilities into the planning and operations for the military services, CYBERCOM can serve as a critical partner in preserving space capabilities against an incessant and evolving cyber threat.  

According to the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), there’s over 100 cyber attacks a week against critical infrastructures directly supporting space systems. This poses an indirect but very real threat to mission readiness in the space domain, particularly because it often exists outside the immediate purview of the Space Force’s cybersecurity personnel. 

New Partnerships across the DOD 

To this end, the DOD’s Combatant Commands are initiating their own partnerships with supporting agencies to further enhance mission readiness. One primary example is a recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CYBERCOM and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The agreement aims to apply DARPA’s integrated teams of academic, industry and government partners to streamline the development and adoption of innovative cybersecurity technologies. 

“DARPA has traditionally embraced the development of advanced technology for more long-term challenges,” Gen McLaughlin said. “They develop cutting-edge solutions for problems that they say are ‘DARPA hard,’ or where the technological challenges aren’t easily addressed by military service Science and Technology accounts. DARPA conducts rotations of talented industry personnel working alongside service members to develop these new, cutting-edge capabilities.” 

As an example, the agency was originally founded in response to the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and has directly supported the development of groundbreaking capabilities such as the Internet and embedding GPS receivers into consumer devices. Therefore, DARPA has a history of developing technologies that can be leveraged at the cross-section of space and cyberspace. 

“This agreement elevates DARPA’s role within CYBERCOM, so they can leverage this innovative agency against more urgent cyber threats,” Gen McLaughlin said. “DARPA knows what the latest technology trends are and can bring them immediately into the warfighting architecture for CYBERCOM and its service components. So this agreement is a powerful step in building out a broader ecosystem in which DARPA will be a key element for developing cybersecurity solutions.” 

New Partnerships with Industry and International Partners 

These various efforts demonstrate the innovative and creative ways the Space Force and its DOD partners are initiating new partnerships across the national security apparatus. But to further ensure mission readiness, particularly across space mission areas, these new partnerships must also incorporate industry partners.  

“Nothing the DOD does can happen without a strong industry base that can bring these capabilities to bear as a part of these integrated teams,” Gen Crider said. “Industry partners are valuable in thinking ahead to address future needs and create new competitive advantages, so continuing to tap into that industry innovation is an important piece of what the Space Force needs to do.”  

Furthermore, the Space Force is taking steps to include international partners in support of mission readiness, as well. The Space Force is modernizing its classification policies for space programs and recently appointed the service’s first foreign officer to hold a position on the headquarters staff. 

“The arrival of Air Marshal Paul Godfrey to the Space Force will help in many mission areas,” Gen McLaughlin said. “Our Allies can often assist in ways that are outsized beyond the size of their units and contribute to any objective a Space Force component or Combatant Command might have. So when there’s an opportunity to include a willing partner, then we can add them into these new partnerships and continue learning from them.” 

These wide-ranging efforts represent the complex challenge that comes with ensuring readiness across space mission areas, and the delicate balance of sustaining capability across domains to prepare for both modern and future threats. However, Elara Nova and its team of consultants bring first-hand experience leveraging partnerships like these at the various cross-sections of national security space.  

“Elara Nova was established to work in the seams of the space community,” Gen Crider said. “We are leaders that come from across the space enterprise and can bring unique experiences and perspectives to new approaches like the Integrated Mission Delta. But we also look for opportunities to expand collaboration and bring organizations together to solve problems and deliver advantages that may exist in those seams, that’s why challenges like the cross-section of space and cyber are a critical focus for us.” 

Elara Nova is a global consultancy and professional services firm focused on helping businesses and government agencies maximize the strategic advantages of the space domain. Learn more at https://elaranova.com/.