Described as a first-of-its-kind agreement, they plan to “outline a framework” to help preserve commercial remote sensing space assets considered vital to the United States’ intelligence collection mission. The three agencies will share threat information and work together to avoid or reduce harm to government or commercial satellites.
Dubbed the Commercial Space Protection Tri-Seal Strategic Framework, it’s the first such agreement between the intelligence community and USSPACECOM on how to bring commercial vendors into the information-sharing process. This is to optimise cooperation from the minute an event happens, with “near real-time information sharing about risks and threats to NRO-contracted commercial space capabilities”.
Basically, the framework defines the roles and responsibilities of NGA, NRO and USSPACECOM in three areas: threat information sharing, anomaly reporting, and commercial imagery collection strategies.
“This agreement is additional recognition of how valuable commercial image providers have become in the space environment,” said Frank Avila, acting director, NGA Commercial Operations.
“Our commercial vendors give us the flexibility to strategically consider all available capabilities – whether government or commercial – to make sure we can get the right data to the right place at the right time.”
Space Command will lead threat information sharing with NRO-contracted commercial imagery providers and the NRO Operations Center, it says. Space Command will also lead investigations into anomalies reported by commercial imagery providers, in coordination with NGA, NRO and other organizations as appropriate.
See also: NRO announces commercial contracts for space-based hyperspectral imagery
