U.S. Strategic Command is launching a new program that officials hope will lead to greater cooperation between the private and public sectors in space operations.

Six companies have been selected to work at the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for a six-month trial period.

The industry experts will be the first private-sector personnel to be integrated into the center's operations. They will help monitor satellite launches and daily operations, participate in training exercises, and provide firsthand technical knowledge of the satellites and technologies their businesses have developed and built.

The Pentagon said the program is a way "to explore the operational, technical, and legal aspects of a partnership between the Defense Department and industry" as well as to integrate "commercial industry capabilities into day-to-day DOD space operations."

One of the goals is to increase the speed and reliability with which the military can detect and correct any problems with the satellites, said JFCC Space spokesman USAF Air Force Capt. Nicholas Mercurio, spokesman for the Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg.

"This collaborative effort will influence better decision-making, improve both DoD and commercial crisis preparedness and develop procedures for sharing applicable cyber and other relevant indications and warning," Mercurio told Air Force Times.

The six-month program will allow industry experts and operators to join military mission control at the U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, which serves as the single point of contact for all U.S. military space operations, including those at Vandenberg.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Jay Raymond, commander of JFCC Space, said in a statement the pilot program "is the next step in our ongoing efforts to partner with like-minded, space-faring entities to promote the peaceful and responsible use of space."

"JFCC Space has actively pursued increasingly robust partnerships within the academic and commercial sectors," he said.

In addition to technical knowledge, officials hope the program will increase future collaboration, communication, information sharing, and trust between the government and private sector, something experts say is needed in increasingly complex fields like space operations and cybersecurity.

"This is above and beyond what we have done previously," said Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, a senior vice president at Inmarsat, one of the companies selected to participate.

"The government will learn more about how the commercial operations take place, and conversely we will have a greater knowledge of how the military conducts operations," Cowen-Hirsch told the Air Force Times.

Mercurio noted that so many groups are now operating in space that coordination is becoming more important than ever.

"The number of man-made objects orbiting the Earth, as well as the number of space-faring entities, continues to increase, making the environment more congested," he said. "Accordingly, our shared awareness of activities and debris in space must also improve."

The other five companies that have been selected to participate are Intelsat, SES Government Solutions, Eutelsat, DigitalGlobe, and Iridium Communications. The group all has previous experience working with the Pentagon, and includes leading industry experts on space operations ranging from communications to satellite imaging.

Scott Scheimreif, an executive vice president at Iridium Communications, said in a statement there is a "need to improve space situational awareness across the government and industry."

The pilot program will help the military "take greater advantage of commercial satellite communications," he said.

Intelsat General President Kay Sears told Aviation Week that the plan for the group is to start with eight- to 12 hours of operations per day, which could then be extended to round-the-clock if the trial is successful.

Part of the program will include planning for any event "that can happen in space, from the most dramatic, such as a satellite collision or attack, down to routine friendly electromagnetic interference," she said.

Cowen-Hirsch, with Inmarsat, said there is a growing acknowledgement that the military and business bring unique capabilities to the increasingly crowded and complex field of space.

"There's a recognition by all those who operate of the complexity of these operations," she said. "This pilot will bring the critical national infrastructure providers into the operational scenarios."

"It's going to be an interesting six months," Cowen-Hirsch said.

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