Department of Defense Releases Its 2024 Commercial Space Integration Strategy

The U.S. Department of Defense released the 2024 DoD Commercial Space Integration Strategy on 2nd April. This strategy is designed to outline and align the Department in its attempts to integrate commercial space solutions into the existing space scene that has been built up over decades in the US, and is intended to protect the security of the country.

The Secretary of Defense outlined the need for such a framework:

“Our men and women in harm’s way rely on space-based services every single day to execute their missions. As the Department continues to prioritize the resilience of our national security space architecture in the face of new threats, we owe it to the Joint Force and the American people to leverage all tools available.”

In a changing military space field of operations, independent commercial entities are becoming more important. A way to ensure that efforts are at least somewhat aligned is required to properly integrate these businesses and ensure that everybody is on the same page. 

The documentation for the Commercial Space Integration Strategy was written to:

• Ensure that there is fair access to commercial solutions across the spectrum of conflict; 
• Achieve integration before a crisis point;
• Establish security conditions for commercial space entities;
• Support the development of new technology and space solutions for use by the joint force. 

The Department has also set out its four foundational principles in its strategy: balance, interoperability, resilience, and responsible conduct. The goal is to properly integrate all commercial solutions into the national security space architecture, thereby creating a framework for people to work from and mitigating risk as necessary.

The integration seeks to help commercial entities to prevent any adversaries making attacks against national security space systems, and is ultimately built to create a secure and safe space domain that stays sustainable in the growth of the private space domain. 

 US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke explained further:

“Integrating commercial solutions, as opposed to mere[ly] augmenting existing government systems, will require a shift in approach within the department.”

He spoke of senior leaders and the fact that they “at all levels need to be aware of and work to eliminate the structural, procedural, and cultural barriers to overcoming legacy practices and preconceived notions of how the commercial sector can support national security.”

The Commercial Space Integration Strategy and its guidelines are available to read here.