DOD starting new entity for sharing space information

A Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center is being created by the U.S. military for better information sharing.

The center, with the acronym JICSpOC, is to be located at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. It is being established by the Department of Defense in conjunction with the U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force Space Command, and the intelligence community.

The new JICSpOC, the Defense Department said, will improve processes and procedures to ensure data fusion among those involved with space operations, such as the DOD, the intelligence community, allied and commercial space entities.

It will also have embedded capabilities to provide backup to the Joint Space Operations Center, or JSpOC, at Vanderberg Air Force Base, Calif.

"The increasing threats to space capabilities necessitates better operational integration of these two space communities, as well as civil, commercial, allied and international partners," the Department of Defense said. "The JICSpOC experimentation and test effort will boost the ability to detect, characterize, and attribute irresponsible or threatening space activity in a timely manner."

Preparatory activities for the center are already being conducted.