U.S. Space Force Takes Steps Toward Enabling Commercial Space Capabilities

To enable more commercial space capabilities, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command’s (SSC’s) Commercial Satellite Communications Office has joined the U.S. Air Force working capital fund (WCF).

SSC announced Wednesday the activation of a new Enterprise Space Activity Group (ESAG) on October 1 to better support its commercial space strategy.

“I’m very proud of our combined interagency team. The establishment of a working capital fund for the USSF represents an important milestone in integrating commercial capabilities into the architecture,” said Col. Timothy Trimailo, USSF. “It allows us to meet the uptick in warfighter demands and enables commercial vendors more flexibility to work with the Space Force, setting the stage for additional commercial services in the future.”

According to the press release, the working capital fund was established through the ESAG charter to provide a new financial platform that can synchronize the Pentagon’s space efforts to support future commercial service demands.

Instead of depending on annual appropriations, SSC collects money from customers through the WCF. According to the press release, profits can lead to lower rates for customers, and losses could make the rates higher.

To activate the WCF, a $120 million deposit was required, and the WCF is estimated to be valued more than $1.2 billion annually, the release stated.

SSC’s Commercial Satellite Communications Office is the only program allowed to manage the WCF.

“The USSF ESAG will be a separate activity that’s not budgeted through annual federal appropriations,” said Clare Hopper, director, SSC, Commercial Satellite Communications Office. “The WCF allows enough lead time to budget for anticipated demand, and the annual device count updates enable equitable cost-share but should be applied in a manner that enables customers adequate lead time to budget.”

Additionally, SSC announced Tuesday that it has awarded the second National Security Space Launch Space Vehicle Processing Commercial Solutions Opening contract to Blue Origin for $78.25 million.

With this contract, SSC will expand its space vehicle processing capacity at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, by 2028.

“This second CSO [commercial solutions opening] award reflects our continued commitment to meet both national security and commercial launch requirements,” said Col. Dan Highlander, USSF, director of operations integration for SSC’s Assured Access to Space directorate. “This additional capacity will ensure the USSF is able to continue to deliver responsive and resilient launch capabilities to the warfighter, and the public-private partnership behind the new capacity enables us to cost-share with commercial industry to our mutual benefit.”