Space Force Launches Space-Based Sensing & Targeting Portfolio

The group focuses on acquiring ready-to-deploy technology in a continually expanding aerospace and space defense focus for the U.S. military

As the country marks its 250th anniversary, the military has taken a forward-looking approach to the way that it procures new technology to meet challenges in new frontiers, including space.

Key to that development is leveraging innovative acquisition strategies to rapidly develop new systems. The division launched its Space-Based Sensing & Targeting portfolio acquisition group earlier this year, which is the newest of eight groups focused on acquiring technology. These groups represent a major change in the way that the military is approaching its procurement system and awarding contracts.

“We don’t want to miss the moment. We want to capture the innovation and the new ideas and the newer capabilities that are available to leverage commercial production lines to minimize our nonrecurring engineering. It reduces risk for the Space Force,” said Colonel Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space Based Sensing & Targeting. “We have a warfighting imperative to deliver at speed and scale.”

One of the sensing and targeting group’s initial contracts was a $4.16-billion award to SpaceX to accelerate the delivery of a space-based sensing layer designed to track and target airborne threats globally. It’s part of the development of a lower earth orbit mesh network that will be integrated into the military’s capabilities.

Over the next six to 12 months, Colonel Frazier expects that new hardware will be launched, even if it’s in a prototype phase. Rather than working with a prime contractor and serving in an oversight role, which wouldn’t take advantage of innovation across the industrial base, their plan is to take advantage of iterative development – breaking up the architecture into smaller chunks that can be awarded contracts in segments. Multiple companies will compete to provide sensor technology. This flexible strategy doesn’t lock in a budget for several years.

The procurement has adapted to the pace of technological advancements and the ever-changing way that conflicts are contested on the battlefield. Space Systems Command’s local legacy began in 1954, when the U.S. Air Force was looking for a location for the service’s development of space capabilities. Air Force leadership found Los Angeles County had the right combination of a technically adept workforce and military presence for a crash program to develop missiles, launch vehicles and satellites during the height of the Cold War.

For the past seven decades, what was originally formed as the Air Force’s Western Development Division has evolved into a Space Force field command since 2021. It is headquartered in El Segundo alongside the Los Angeles Air Force Base, and has become the largest organization responsible for acquiring and delivering capabilities to protect the United States’s strategic interests in space, including managing a growing space acquisition budget.

“We make sure that the program managers and the portfolio executives have the resources to develop strategies or award contracts – and we develop the workforce,” said Space Force Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant, commander of Space Systems Command.

Acquisition of technology in space supports the command’s mission, with more than 150 space launches to deploy technology in 2024 and close to 200 in 2025. Furthermore, it partners with other organizations such as the National Reconnaissance Office, National Security Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, DARPA, among others, that also have programs to acquire complementary technology.

Developing the workforce is key. Lt. Gen. Garrant explained that the El Segundo command has a goal of adding up to 100 new employees per month across all functions, including military and civilian. Hiring is a major challenge for employers in Southern California due to the high cost of living and limited supply of housing, and the Space Force is not immune to those challenges. Hiring has nevertheless been robust even though it hasn’t met its ambitious monthly targets. In El Segundo, the base has about 1,300 active-duty personnel and more than 5,000 civilians, including contractors.

Ultimately, however, the mission remains focused on defending the nation’s interests in space. New technology is important and the Space Systems Command has drastically reduced time to develop new capabilities. That’s due to the numerous local contractors, many of whom are backed by leading venture capital and private equity firms, who invest in their technology with dual-use commercial and military applications.

“What I’m looking for ideally is to leverage something that works commercially so that we reduce that development risk on our end and get the economy of scale. Show us that the capability works. Prove it on orbit or in a testing environment, not on a pitch deck. That’s a compelling case for us to buy it,” said Col. Frazier.