Partnering to Win: How the Space Force Is Crafting a Collaboration Ecosystem

In January, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, a 2023 Wash100 Award winner, released his three lines of effort designed to shape the future of the U.S. Space Force. The third, partnering to win, focuses on collaboration as a driving force behind successful U.S. space operations.

Both public and private sector space leaders will come together to discuss federal activities in the space domain at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Space Summit on March 5, 2024. During the event, you will have the opportunity to learn from top executives in the field, including keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of the Space Systems Command, who has spoken extensively about Space Force collaboration initiatives.

Click here to learn more, and click here to register to attend.

Industry organizations are a major element of the Space Force’s strategy. One way the service branch is working to strengthen these relationships is through the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve.

According to Guetlein, CASR “is about building capacity for times of crisis or conflict during peacetime.”

It focuses on establishing relationships, exercises and funding that would support quick responses to national security incidents, he explained during the AFCEA Space Industry Days in October.

He said the service branch intends to request funding for the program in the 2025 and 2026 budgets.

A recent step forward in Space Force collaboration efforts is the SSC’s establishment of the Commercial Space Marketplace for Innovation and Collaboration, or COSMIC, a workspace designed to cultivate Space Force-industry partnerships. COSMIC, said Guetlein, is an acknowledgement of the role private space organizations play in U.S. warfighting and national security efforts.

In April, the SSC rebranded its Commercial Services Office as the Commercial Space Office. Guetlein said at the Space Foundation’s Space Symposium in April that with the previous title, the office primarily reached organizations in the services field, and the change was made to emphasize that the SSC is also seeking other forms of support. 

The Space Force is also working toward a more global approach, recognizing international allies as key mission partners. Part of what inspired this push was the understanding that some information was over classified.

“As a result, we never really built the partnerships that we should have been building from day one to get after this. We weren’t exercising together. We weren’t doing war games together. We didn’t have common [tactics, techniques, and procedures],” said Guetlein.

Though overclassification is still a challenge, Guetlein said the creation of organizations like the Space Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 3 Canadian Space Division, U.K. Space Command and Australia’s Defence Space Command has empowered progress in the area.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to hear more of Guetlein’s insights in person! Click here to register for the event.