The Department of Defense (DOD) is a U.S. government agency responsible for military and national security space activities. It acts as a major procurer and operator of space systems, including launch vehicles and satellite systems for reconnaissance, missile launch detection, navigation, and communication. The DOD aims to maintain space superiority, integrate military space power, and ensure space stability, working with commercial firms to integrate space solutions into national security architectures.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The administration proposed creating a Space Force headquarters in the Pentagon led by a four-star chief of staff, a four-star vice chief of staff, and an undersecretary of the Air Force for space.
The denial of the $15,000,000 for the Space Development Agency was conveyed in a 2019-07-03 letter to Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist.
The House directed the Department of Defense and the Space Development Agency to recommend options to procure commercial services to fill space situational awareness requirements not filled in the Joint Space Operations Center Mission Center.
The House bill directs the Department of Defense and the Air Force to provide written notification of which companies won Phase 2 contracts at least 10 days before the selection is made public, including identification of selected providers, evaluation criteria used, total costs to the Air Force, and how investments in launch service providers were accounted for in the evaluation of offers.
The House bill requires the Department of Defense and the Air Force to implement a plan from the 2017 NDAA regarding U.S. use of allied launch vehicles, including identifying satellites appropriate for allied launch vehicles and determining policy, certification requirements, and estimated cost and schedule to certify allied launch vehicles.
The NDAA directs the Department of Defense to contract with a federally funded research and development center or another independent entity to conduct a study on deterrence in space.
The House directed the Department of Defense and the Space Development Agency to design prototypes of secure GPS receivers capable of receiving position, navigation, and timing signals from allied PNT systems such as Europe’s Galileo, Japan’s QZSS, and India’s NAVIC.
The Senate rejected the Department of Defense’s plan in its version of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act to establish a space service headquarters led by two four-star generals and an undersecretary of the Air Force for space.
The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act granted the Department of Defense Section 804 authorities to bypass regulations when developing systems that use mature technologies.
President Trump directed the Department of Defense in June 2018 to form a separate military service for space.
The Pentagon requested $149,000,000 for the Space Development Agency in fiscal year 2020.
The Defense Innovation Unit will work with four selected companies to develop how the Department of Defense would procure small launch services.
Of 28 offerors solicited for the Defense Department blanket purchase agreement, two provided quotations.
Inmarsat’s government division won a blanket purchase agreement from the U.S. Defense Department worth up to $246,000,000 over five years.
Inmarsat will provide commercial satellite communications services through the Defense Department blanket purchase agreement contracted by the Defense Information Technology Organization.
After President Trump directed the Department of Defense in June 2018 to stand up a Space Force as a separate military service, Patrick Shanahan led the effort to write a legislative proposal and persuade lawmakers to authorize the new branch.
In November 2017, Congress reassigned the role of principal space adviser from Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to Patrick Shanahan in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act and directed him to study ways to reorganize the Department of Defense space enterprise.
The space internet is intended to serve as the Space Development Agency’s data transport layer as a global mesh network for Department of Defense communications.
The Pentagon requested $149,800,000 for the Space Development Agency in fiscal year 2020.
Fred Kennedy believes Department of Defense spacecraft buses and payloads can be acquired at single-digit million dollar prices if the DoD purchases commercially available hardware rather than customized systems.