In Space Acquisition, Commercial Integration is not an “Either/Or” Decision Published June 23, 2026 By Col. Timothy Trimailo, Director, Space Systems Command Commercial Space Office (COMSO), United States Space Force For decades, government space systems were built as bespoke, standalone architectures. That made sense when only a handful of nations could operate in orbit. Today, the commercial market is global, fast, and unprecedently inventive. The challenge isn’t whether commercial technology can meet our needs: it’s how quickly we can adapt our acquisition culture to embrace it and get it into the hands of the warfighter. Without commercial, dual-use technologies, we cannot maintain space superiority nor win in the event of a conflict in space. The threats we face today are evolving too quickly, the technology landscape is shifting too fast, and our adversaries are taking note. They see the opportunity of commercial technology and they are embracing it: building mega constellations, dabbling in dynamic space operations, investing in cybersecurity and hypersonic-type weapons that can be used to defeat us in the future. For all these reasons, we can’t afford to treat commercial space as an optional supplement to the fight. It’s an operational imperative to integrate commercial into our architecture before we get to the fight. The Commercial Space Office (COMSO) was established in 2022 then expanded a year later to put manpower and technology against that imperative. Early work involved unifying various commercial initiatives under a single entity, mapping the commercial landscape, getting a bead on emerging technologies, communicating mission needs to broader industry, and connecting small businesses with SBIR and STTR opportunities to nurture promising solutions. A pivotal lesson learned is that commercial integration falls along a continuum depending on mission risk tolerance, technology maturity, commercial market size, and the urgency to field the capability. In some cases, we can buy commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, data, or services that provide us with end-to-end solutions. The Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) is a great example of this approach, buying commercial SATCOM-as-a-service from a vast number of mature commercial companies where the systems are commercially owned and operated, and providing that capability to all of DoW, other government agencies, and some international partners. In other cases, we can buy commercial components and incorporate them into tailored capability builds. SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) is a great example of this category of commercial integration. For SDA’s Missile Tracking Layer, for example, there’s not a big commercial market for things like infrared sensors, but there is for satellite buses, data processors, communications payloads, and other relevant off-the-shelf components. Integrating these into a custom government build allows for faster delivery to operations, saves money, and allows for greater focus of resources on developing the hard, military-specific components needed to deliver the mission. There are several other cases along the continuum. We are exploring unique, commercial-like concepts of operation that emphasize automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to reduce operator cognitive load and speed up decision-making. We are exploring increased R&D cost-share with the private investment community through mechanisms like SpaceWERX’s Tactical Finance Increase (TACFI) and Strategic Finance Increase (STRATFI) program. All of these examples fall somewhere along the continuum of commercial integration. Today, COMSO’s focus is on delivering operational capability at speed. That means finalizing the first Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR) contracts, optimizing procurements through CSCO and the USSF’s first-ever working capital fund called Enterprise Space Activity Group (ESAG), partnering with SpaceWERX, DIU, AFRL, DARPA, SDA, and others to mature dual-use technologies, engaging with venture capital and private equity enterprises to co-invest in critical capabilities, and driving toward fielded systems that provide real-world utility—not just components and tech maturation, but end-to-end capability! Our close partnerships with the commercial space industry and private finance are paying significant dividends ensuring both the government and private capital are investing in those technologies most dear to our success and continued dominance in space. This tight coupling is a revolutionary force multiplier in getting capabilities to the warfighter in record time. I often describe CASR as the “master’s degree” level of commercial integration. It’s a massive, first-of-its-kind effort designed to ensure the nation can access commercial space capabilities in times of crisis or conflict. That means understanding what companies are out there, which ones are mature enough to contribute, and how their systems can be integrated with our government architecture. The lessons have been clear—every partner is different, with its own technical strengths, business models, and tolerance for risk. That diversity is an asset, not an obstacle. Our job is to harness it. When the first CASR contracts go live, they’ll represent more than just contingency access: they’ll prove that commercial capability can be seamlessly tied into the operational fight. In a conflict, that flexibility will improve our nation’s lethality. Another major success story is SSC’s Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) IDIQ contract. In just a few years, demand for proliferated LEO services has exploded, expanding the contract’s ceiling from $900 million to $13 billion. That’s not bureaucracy: that’s the warfighter sending a clear demand signal that these capabilities are contributing to the fight. More than a contract vehicle, PLEO is a blueprint for the future hybrid architecture the Space Force is building. It provides resiliency, flexibility, and speed. Every new entrant raises the bar, and that relentless competition gives the warfighter better deals, better technology, access to each new spiral in the commercial development ecosystem, and faster delivery. It’s exactly the kind of dynamic environment we need to maintain an edge in space. Finally, no discussion of commercial integration would be complete without mention of our Space Force Front Door program. Front Door is a hub for reducing barriers to entry for our commercial partners. Through it we launched Orbital Watch, a “neighborhood watch” in space that shares unclassified threat information with more than 900 registered commercial partners. In time, Orbital Watch will become a two-way vehicle with industry reporting back what they see on orbit. That kind of transparency strengthens the entire ecosystem. It builds trust. And it helps everyone design more resilient systems from the start. There are more big things coming soon for the Front Door as we automate the system and focus on providing additional resources to both industry and government stakeholders. COMSO’s evolution mirrors the broader evolution of the Space Force: We can’t win the next war with yesterday’s acquisition model. We can’t win it with isolated systems. We will win it by integrating commercial speed, flexibility, and innovation into the fight and by delivering operational capability that increases our lethality and keeps our Nation secure. When skeptics say no-fail missions like nuclear Command and Control or strategic missile warning are not set up for commercial integration, we remind them that commercial integration is no longer an “either/or” decision. There are ways to integrate commercial into every single mission area! That’s the mission. That’s what COMSO is here to do. And we’re just getting started. # # # A version of this article appeared in Space Power magazine.