1 week Ago By Sandra Erwin
Join our newsletter to get the latest military space news every Tuesday by veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin. COLORADO SPRINGS — The U.S.
Space Force’s procurement arm announced a new intelligence-sharing program aimed at warning commercial satellite operators about potential threats to their orbital assets. The Space Systems Command said the new program, called “Orbital Watch,” will distribute unclassified threat data to more than 900 space companies registered through the command’s “Front Door” portal, regardless of whether they hold government contracts or security clearances. “As space threats continue to evolve — from cyber intrusions and electronic warfare to adversarial on-orbit activities — Orbital Watch intends to communicate critical unclassified threat information to ensure commercial providers can build resilient systems and mitigate threats,” the Space Systems Command said in a statement April 8.
The U.S. military’s Commercial Integration Cell (CIC) program for the past decade has shared intelligence with a select group of space companies including Blacksky, Kratos, LeoLabs, Telesat, Eutelsat America, Hughes Network Systems, Intelsat, Iridium, Maxar, SES, SpaceX, Viasat and XTA.
While CIC participation requires Defense Department contracts and personnel with security clearances, Orbital Watch has no such requirements. The initiative comes amid growing concerns about threats to space assets, which have become critical infrastructure for global communications, navigation and Earth observation. The commercial satellite sector has expanded dramatically in recent years, with hundreds of new satellites launched into orbit by both established aerospace firms and emerging space startups.
Space-based threats include physical anti-satellite weapons, electronic jamming, cyber attacks, and ground-based directed energy weapons. Several nations, including Russia and China, have demonstrated anti-satellite capabilities in recent years, prompting increased focus on space domain awareness and security. Col.
Richard Kniseley, senior materiel leader of the command’s Commercial Space Office, said the program’s focus is on “sharing threat information in a timely manner,” noting that the Front Door infrastructure is equipped for this purpose. The program will deploy gradually, beginning with quarterly threat information distributions during its beta phase. Victor Vigliotti, director of the Front Door initiative, said Orbital Watch aims to “strengthen collaboration with commercial space providers and improve collective situational awareness.
” The longer term objective is a secure “commercial portal” enabling two-way threat information sharing between government and commercial operators..
