The Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center (JICSPOC) has completed six experiments focused on defending space assets from potential adversaries, Gen. Jay Raymond, boss of Space Command, told reporters at AWS17 Friday. He said JICSPOC had wrapped up its sixth experiment within the past few months and was beginning work on its seventh now. While declining to comment on the specific nature of these experiments, Raymond said, “They’re going extremely well.” JICSPOC efforts so far have focused on building a partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office, increasing data sharing, and pioneering new multi-domain forms of command and control. The JICSPOC has “DOD operators and NRO operators sitting side by side,” Raymond said, and “that allows us to share information more easily and have a common understanding and awareness” of the space domain. JICSPOC also is working on developing “additional sources of data, including commercial data,” to inform operational space decisions. The ultimate goal of these partnerships, for JICSPOC, is to build “prototypes for that battle management command and control system,” which Raymond said is key to “integrating space capabilities into theater operations.”
A new White House policy calls for the Pentagon to craft plans for additional space launch facilities to support a projected increase in launch demand that could see the U.S. supporting as many as 1,000 launches by 2030, more than a fivefold increase from 2025.