Space Force Sets Sights on Putting JADC2 in Orbit.

• Author: Luckenbaugh, Josh

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado -- Space-based systems will play a critical role in the Defense Department's joint all-domain command control concept, and the services and commercial industry are working to send new capabilities into orbit.

The goal of the JADC2 initiative is to connect sensors to shooters and ensure warfighters get the right information at the right place and time. JADC2 "can only be achieved with foundational space-based capabilities," according to "The Indispensable Domain: The Critical Role of Space in JADC2," an October 2022 policy paper published by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. "Only the space domain can move information at the speed, size and range required of an effective JADC2 architecture," the paper said.

The Space Force is "working closely" with the Air Force team that is developing the Advanced Battle Management System--the Department of the Air Force's contribution to the JADC2 initiative--to clearly define what space capabilities are needed, said Brig. Gen. Timothy Sejba, the program executive officer for battle management, command, control and communications at Space Systems Command.

"There are a number of different programs that we believe are core to the overall battle network," Sejba said during a media briefing at the Space Foundation's Space Symposium in April. "We look at the [command and control] needed, the sensors that are needed on the space side, and then the effectors that will be fed by all that information. We're really making sure that we look at it as an endto-end capability."

The two "foundational" capabilities for the space component of JADC2 will be a strong data fabric that allows the services to "understand how we're going to utilize" the information and "where the data needs to go to from across the department," and resilient networks to ensure "we can connect across the larger Air and Space Forces," he said.

In March, Space Systems Command awarded a $900 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to 18 vendors to provide data software services for the Space Force's Space C2 program, a command release said.

These services will support warfighters "by serving as a data layer to efficiently integrate and manage escalating amounts of data from various disparate data sources to enable application delivery, in-depth analysis and data-driven decision making across echelons and functional communities," the release said.

On the networking side, the Space Development...