{"id":60205,"date":"2020-03-11T20:14:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T12:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/u-s-military-wants-new-ways-to-buy-satellites-services\/"},"modified":"2020-03-11T20:14:05","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T12:14:05","slug":"u-s-military-wants-new-ways-to-buy-satellites-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/u-s-military-wants-new-ways-to-buy-satellites-services\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Military Wants New Ways to Buy Satellites, Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The agency in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that buys commercial satellite services for the U.S. military is working on a new acquisition strategy, aiming to centralize and consolidate the way it deals with commercial vendors and its own internal customers, its chief said Wednesday at SATELLITE 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Combined with a new acquisition strategy from the Space Development Agency, which aims to rewrite the rulebook on satellite vehicle procurement, the move represents nothing short of a revolution in the way the military spends billions of dollars a year with the satellite industry.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/FWtNsJ4ZQVKb8szzeM9L_ShowDaily20_Cover_Day4_DGTL-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"width: 120px; height: auto;\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/FWtNsJ4ZQVKb8szzeM9L_ShowDaily20_Cover_Day4_DGTL-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/FWtNsJ4ZQVKb8szzeM9L_ShowDaily20_Cover_Day4_DGTL-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/FWtNsJ4ZQVKb8szzeM9L_ShowDaily20_Cover_Day4_DGTL-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/FWtNsJ4ZQVKb8szzeM9L_ShowDaily20_Cover_Day4_DGTL.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"fs-5 mt-0\">Explore the Show Daily 2020 Day 4 Issue<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-0 fs-smaller text-balance\">Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-primary\" type=\"button\" data-bs-toggle=\"offcanvas\" data-bs-target=\"#offcanvasMENU\" aria-controls=\"offcanvasExample\" aria-label=\"button\" style=\"white-space: nowrap;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tView More <i class=\"bi bi-arrow-right-circle\"><\/i><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the primary challenges we have is the fragmentation of satcom,\u201d said Clare Grason, head of the Pentagon\u2019s Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO), which recently moved into the new U.S. Space Command. CSCO, which buys commercial satellite services for many different military services, agencies and departments, is at any given time running about 100 contracts and negotiating 30 or so more, she said.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201ctransformative\u201d new acquisition strategy, which Grason said she hoped to have ready by the summer, is designed to evolve how the military acquires and delivers commercial satellite communication services from a \u201cdisaggregated basis to a smaller series of contracts whereby we are \u2026 centralizing procurement with industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The move would effectively replace the one-off contracts CSCO currently negotiates with providers on behalf of each of its customers, with a smaller collection of much larger contracts, designed to provide capability for multiple missions and customers.<\/p>\n<p><script>var AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a6c727bc79fb;googletag.cmd.push(function(){var AIMAP_29b58f13885ebf8ea6b032f958eb0748 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([992, 100], [[970, 90], [970, 250]]).addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_737ce075cc05dd766c8f8ea08f3faa73 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([1200, 100], [970, 250]).addSize([768, 100], [600, 300]).addSize([320, 100], [300, 250]).build();AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a6c727bc79fb = googletag.defineSlot('\/987\/satellitetoday.com\/via-satellite-digital-issue-ads', [ [600, 300], [300, 250], [970, 250] ], 'div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a6c727bc79fc').defineSizeMapping(AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());   });<\/script><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a6c727bc79fc'); });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn essence, we want to aggregate our collective buying power and do a central procurement and in turn distribute that capability that we\u2019re buying through service level agreements with our customers,\u201d Grason told a panel discussion on military satellite acquisition. The SLA\u2019s will determine how much the customer agency pays for the capability through some kind of rate structure, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat will preserve customer autonomy over the commercial satcom services they\u2019re buying,\u201d she said. Military satcom services are prioritized for use by a ponderous bureaucratic process with which most customers are unhappy, Grason said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to militarize commercial satcom. We believe that process would collapse under its own weight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One model is the way that CSCO already buys narrowband satellite communications, including satphone services, from Iridium. \u201cMy team centrally acquires capability from Iridium, we have contracts with Iridium, contracts with other companies that enable that end-to-end mission. Then we establish a rate with our customers based on a service level agreement,\u201d Grason said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking to do is replicate that model over the remainder of our purchasing,\u201d Grason told reporters after the session. \u201cIt\u2019s essentially more complex because we are leveraging a variety of systems, many many different suppliers.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe natural skepticism from our customer base is: \u2018How are you going to ensure that the capabilities we are getting today is not degraded?\u2019\u201d Grayson acknowledged.<\/p>\n<p>She added that the main question the strategy\u2019s authors were working through was \u201cHow would we go about doing a central buy, based on the demand we know is there because we have all these separate contracts in place, and what kind of rate structure would be put in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a challenging objective,\u201d she conceded, but would ultimately benefit the military because \u201cyou\u2019re aggregating buying power, you won\u2019t have duplication, and we\u2019d be able to shift resources without having to set up new contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She compared the model to that way consumers buy satellite TV. \u201cWe\u2019d become like a direct TV. [Agencies can] pick a cable plan and we manage the contracting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the director of the new Space Development Agency said he was planning to throw out \u2014 or at least rewrite \u2014 the acquisition rulebook to fulfill his agency\u2019s mandate to integrate and unify all the military\u2019s space R&amp;D efforts and accelerate the fielding of new military space capabilities.<\/p>\n<p><script>var AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a6c727bc80aa;googletag.cmd.push(function(){var AIMAP_29b58f13885ebf8ea6b032f958eb0748 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([992, 100], [[970, 90], [970, 250]]).addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_737ce075cc05dd766c8f8ea08f3faa73 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([1200, 100], [970, 250]).addSize([768, 100], [600, 300]).addSize([320, 100], [300, 250]).build();AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a6c727bc80aa = googletag.defineSlot('\/987\/satellitetoday.com\/via-satellite-digital-issue-ads', [ [600, 300], [300, 250], [970, 250] ], 'div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a6c727bc80ab').defineSizeMapping(AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());   });<\/script><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a6c727bc80ab'); });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not have a set of requirements that I\u2019m going to build to,\u201d said SDA Director Derek Tournear. Traditionally military acquisition starts with requirements, laying out in excruciating detail exactly what capabilities are being purchased. The problem is that just collecting and agreeing those requirements \u2014 especially if more than one agency or service is involved \u2014 can take months or even years, by which time technology has iterated and moved on.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, said Tournear, the SDA plans to use a sometimes controversial approach called \u201cspiral development.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have minimum viable products that are very basic and I\u2019m planning on fielding different tranches or spirals, generations if you will, every two years,\u201d he said. For example, in fielding a new constellation of satellites for warfighter communications and targeting, the MVP \u2014 \u201cdozens of satellites to allow people to see the utility [of the new constellation]\u201d \u2014 would be launched by 2022. By 2024, tranche one would be \u201chundreds of satellites, for regional persistence\u201d \u2014 i.e. the ability to provide 24\/7 surveillance and communications over a particular region of the earth. The second tranche, in 2026, would complete the constellation, giving global coverage.<\/p>\n<p>This method of ongoing development in theory means that new advances in technology which occur once the procurement has started can be incorporated in future tranches.<\/p>\n<p>For industry, the promised changes cannot come soon enough, said Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, the senior vice president for government policy and strategy for Inmarsat Government, one of Grason\u2019s co-panelists. \u201cUnfortunately, what we\u2019re seeing is a wide range of disparate, potentially even disconnected, [procurement] activities,\u201d she said, \u201cWhat I\u2019m looking forward to, as the Space Force continues to exercise and define its roles and responsibilities \u2026 is that single authority that can ultimately govern and shepherd all these activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the impulses behind the creation of the Space Force was to try and create a central authority that would take charge of space procurement, replacing a patchwork of different agencies and services each buying their own way into orbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now there are a number of different organizations [buying satellites and satellite services] that have a number of different priorities and how that all stitches together is going to be critically important so we don\u2019t sub-optimize the outcome,\u201d Cowen-Hirsch said. <strong>VS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"widget-title\">In This Issue<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 397:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KVa61byAQN2npl9uwrRA_D7S_7549-2-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KVa61byAQN2npl9uwrRA_D7S_7549-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KVa61byAQN2npl9uwrRA_D7S_7549-2-800x534.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KVa61byAQN2npl9uwrRA_D7S_7549-2-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/KVa61byAQN2npl9uwrRA_D7S_7549-2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tExisting Threats, Long-Term Opportunities Fuel the U.S. Space Force<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 396:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/lZkJJpOpT9QGiundSeW7_DSC_1984-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/lZkJJpOpT9QGiundSeW7_DSC_1984-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/lZkJJpOpT9QGiundSeW7_DSC_1984-800x534.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/lZkJJpOpT9QGiundSeW7_DSC_1984-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/lZkJJpOpT9QGiundSeW7_DSC_1984.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tFiber Optic Cables Take Center Stage at Startup Space 2020<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 399:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/zGXgYJ2HS3lpGreoblhg_D7S_7489-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/zGXgYJ2HS3lpGreoblhg_D7S_7489-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/zGXgYJ2HS3lpGreoblhg_D7S_7489-800x534.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/zGXgYJ2HS3lpGreoblhg_D7S_7489-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/zGXgYJ2HS3lpGreoblhg_D7S_7489.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tSatellite Manufacturers Tout Their Agility<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 400:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/yVi4PsNTqSejpBfcivwq_D7S_7404-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/yVi4PsNTqSejpBfcivwq_D7S_7404-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/yVi4PsNTqSejpBfcivwq_D7S_7404-800x534.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/yVi4PsNTqSejpBfcivwq_D7S_7404-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/yVi4PsNTqSejpBfcivwq_D7S_7404.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s Driving Smallsat Growth in GEO?<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The agency in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that buys commercial satellite services for the U.S. military is working on a new acquisition strategy, aiming to centralize and consolidate the way it deals with commercial vendors and its own internal customers, its chief said Wednesday at SATELLITE 2020. Combined with a new acquisition strategy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}