SPACECOM Eyes Data Integration Pilot Program to Sharpen Mission Areas’ C2 Capabilities, Official Says

The U.S. Space Command is developing a pilot program on data integration to improve its mission areas’ command and control systems, Gen. Stephen Whiting, SPACECOM commander, disclosed. 

Speaking at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event Monday, Whiting emphasized that the command will not acquire new capabilities or tools for the project and instead use current data and systems. 

Whiting is still discussing with Richard Yu, SPACECOM’s chief information officer and Digital Superiority Directorate head, the specific mission area that the planned pilot study will focus on.

According to Whiting, a speaker at a past Potomac Officers Club event and a 2024 Wash100 winner, space domain awareness is one of SPACECOM’s C2 mission areas that currently need improvement, Breaking Defense reported Monday.

SPACECOM’s C2 system for the mission area, called SPADOC, still relies on “technology from the 1980s-1990s,” Whiting noted. He described the system’s internal software as “pretty old,” although the hardware has been modernized. 

The Space Force and its acquisition resources working on the C2 mission system’s improvement “would be very helpful,” the SPACECOM chief added.