Space Situation Awareness Operations

Joint Commercial Operations (JCO) rapidly contributes across the full Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, and Assess (F2T2EA) kill chain by delivering near-persistent, low-latency commercial sensing, data fusion, and analysis at operational speed. Through a proliferated network of commercial optical, radar, and passive RF sensors, the JCO enables rapid detection, identification, and custody of targets across Orbital Warfare and Electronic Warfare mission sets. JCO-generated state vectors, covariances, and pattern-of-life analysis directly support targeting decisions and engagement planning while significantly compressing decision timelines compared to legacy architectures. During engagement and assessment, JCO capabilities provide combat identification support, maneuver and behavior change detection, and battle damage assessment through optical, radar, and RF monitoring. The Commercial Integration Cell (CIC) integrates prominent US industry partners such as SpaceX within the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC). It focuses on capabilities & TS/SCI threat sharing, day-to-day operations & crisis action planning from competition through conflict, responsive communication & information sharing - increasing transparency and shared understanding & unity of effort. CIC is key in ensuring mission impact mitigation; thereby, addressing friction within the geopolitical landscape by maintaining close relationships with partners. CIC improves information sharing and collaboration in the operational domain, between entities providing space related services to the US Government and ultimately reduce risk to Combatant Command missions.

The Space Domain Awareness Network effort is a Middle Tier Acquisition rapid fielding (MTF-RF) program of record. It is deploying a modern end-to-end data delivery capability via resilient, distributed mesh network capability for the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) and other associated sensor, C2 and data nodes. SDANet supports existing capabilities through improvements to end-to-end architecture and data delivery efficiency and resiliency to enable modern C2 and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (Al/ML) initiatives. SDANet enables Sensor-to-Sensor, Sensor-to-C2 systems, and Sensor-to-Unified Data Library (UDL} end-to-end data flows revolutionizing the traditional vertical Sensor-to-C2 data flows to incorporate the ability to send and receive data laterally enabling space domain operations. Through a Mission Data Integration (MDI) initiative (Project Lighthouse), SDANet seeks to enable command-and-control (C2) through machine-to-machine interface between the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and SDA sensors to allow USSPACECOM to deter aggression, defend national assets, and when necessary, defeat threats.

Space Domain Awareness (SDA) is one of four U.S. Space Force Enterprise Functions and is defined as the ability to detect, characterize, attribute, predict, and target activities in the space domain to inform decision making. SDA is comprised of the following Enterprise Activities: Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Conjunction Assessment, Collision on Launch Assessment, Breakups, and Rendezvous and Proximity Operations Support. As the foundation for space control, SDA encompasses surveillance of all space objects and activities; detailed surveillance of specific space assets; monitoring space environmental conditions; monitoring cooperative space assets; gathering indications and warning on adversary space operations; and conducting integrated command and control (C2), communications, processing, analysis, dissemination, and archiving activities. Space Situation Awareness Operations (SSAO, 1203940SF) fields, upgrades, operationalizes, operates, and maintains Space Force sensors and information/data integration capabilities within the SDA network while companion program element Space Situational Awareness Systems (SSAS, 1206425SF) develops new network sensors and associated information integration capabilities across the network. Activities funded in this program (1203940SF) focus on surveillance of objects in earth orbit and beyond to aid tasks including satellite tracking; space object identification; tracking and cataloging; satellite attack warning; notification of satellite flyovers to U.S. forces; space treaty monitoring; and technical intelligence gathering. As a whole, this program upgrades, modifies, modernizes, operationalizes, fields, operates, and maintains sensors and information integration capabilities for an integrated, end-to-end SDA architecture that provides critical national security space solutions on tactical operational timelines. The Space Data Fusion (SDF) effort (673940) includes the Global Sensor Watch (GSW) program, which develops and/or upgrades SDA data collection and exploitation capabilities, including artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), as modernization and improvement efforts to operational SDA capability.

This budget activity funds the operational development necessary to acquire, sustain, and modernize SF Weather Services Research capabilities in support of three lines of effort: build a more lethal force, strengthen alliances and attract new partners, and change the way we do business. To improve readiness for a more lethal force, SF Weather Services Research provides timely, accurate, resilient, and relevant environmental information to enable global battlespace situational awareness for Air Force (AF), Army, Special Operations Forces (SOF), Space Force (USSF), combatant commands, the Intelligence Community (IC), and other government agencies. SF Weather Services Research provides climate impacts and assessments, as well as space and terrestrial weather sensing, forecasting, and weather analytic capabilities, at home station and deployed, in order to deliver critical environmental intelligence in support of warfighters to gain the asymmetric advantage during the full spectrum of air and space combat operations. SF Weather Services Research decreases the risk to mission and risk to force by increasing the lethality, effectiveness, and survivability of Department of War (DoW) weapon systems. To strengthen alliances and partnerships, SF Weather Services Research development efforts integrate DoW, government agency, commercial, and international partner environmental data with AFWS information system equipment for processing, storing, exploiting, and disseminating multi-domain weather information for analysis, forecasting, mission integration, and greater interoperability. To ensure greater performance and affordability for the Department of the AF, SF Weather Services Research sensors and information systems are being modernized through improvements to architecture and system efficiency, cybersecurity, joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) and sensing grid integration, migration to cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) initiatives, and expanding agile software development, delivery, and integration practices. The AF Weather Enterprise digital transformation and cloud migration effort modernizes key capabilities providing the military advantage to accurately predict environmental impacts optimizing mission planning, targeting, weaponeering, mission execution, battle damage assessment, and space systems operations.

NOTE: In FY2027+ UDL funds have transferred to a new Program Element (PE) 1203156SF, Project (673941), Unified Data Library (UDL). The Unified Data Library project (673941) supports integration, exploitation, and delivery of Space Domain Awareness (SDA) data sources for Command and Control (C2) and battle management of space forces. It focuses on enabling data sharing, establishing the data architecture required to aggregate multi-sensor data for broader use at different classification levels, transforming any-source data into normalized, usable information via data exploitation tools, followed by data hand off to Battle Management Command and Control mission systems to support actual space operations. The UDL will directly connect to dedicated USSF collateral, contributing and non-traditional sensors and systems with modernized interfaces and transport options to broadly expose data. The UDL will be the single source for accessing and managing all data in support of the USSF, providing a central location to find and access data, enabling superior analytics. This program may include necessary civilian pay expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver the weapon system capability. The use of such program funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in program elements 1206392SF and 1206398SF.