Space Command to Award OTA Contracts for Operational Command and Control

Breaking Defense reports that the Space Force intends to begin issuing first contracts for its Kronos project next month, following a quiet initiation of planning last May. The project aims to modernize operational command and control and battle management software for space domain awareness. The Space Surveillance Network of radars and telescopes will provide the baseline capabilities needed to replace the dysfunctional 1980s-era computer system called the Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC). The Space Force plans to award Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contracts in a staggered fashion starting in April, with the goal of building capabilities across the three lines of effort. Meanwhile, the ATLAS project, initiated in 2018, is still struggling to reach a minimum capability for SPADOC decommissioning, despite the Space Force’s move to accept it as ‘operational’ last September.