The U.S. Space Force (USSF) is finalizing an international partnership strategy that will emphasize the importance of embedding allies and partners into space warfare through shared goals in security, communication, and integration, with a particular focus on interoperability and rapid technology transfer.
The forthcoming international strategy is intended to complement the Space Force’s commercial strategy released last year, which guides how the service integrates commercial space solutions to advance technology and enhance mission capability.
“We really started working on this strategy at the end of last year, because it was the commercial strategy that came out last year. And this is a strategy that is designed to be hand in glove with that commercial strategy,” said Air Marshal Paul Godfrey, assistant chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships with USSF, during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar on June 23.
Godfrey explained that aligning the two strategies will help international partners better understand the direction of U.S. space policy and determine how they might leverage commercial solutions or develop sovereign capabilities.
Synergy between the commercial and international strategies strengthens cooperation beyond military operations alone, he said.
While Godfrey did not disclose specific objectives to be included in the forthcoming strategy, he underscored its emphasis on fostering interoperability and expediting technology sharing among allied nations.
“If we’re going to be truly interoperable, if we’re going to operate as a coalition in space, then we need to be talking the same language,” he said. “We need to understand the capabilities that each other has.”
The strategy also will aim to bolster a coalition of space experts and tackle challenges related to overclassification, which can hinder cooperation and knowledge sharing.
“At the very basic level, we’ve got to be able to have those conversations,” Godfrey said. “We’ve got to be able to transfer technologies rapidly so that we can make sure that the allies become combat multipliers at the end of the day.”
The Space Force has not announced a release date for the strategy.