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Foreign Military Sales Conference Ushers in New Era for Space Systems Command

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  • By Lisa Sodders, SSC Public Affairs
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. --  In anticipation of what some in the defense industry are calling a “tidal wave” of new foreign military sales cases, Space Systems Command hosted a first-ever Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Enterprise Kick-Off conference Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
 
“Today, SSC is taking another step towards our vision for an FMS enterprise that successfully executes space FMS cases and effectively delivers capabilities for joint and allied operations,” said Joy M. White, SSC executive director, who delivered opening remarks to an audience of more than 100 Guardians, Airmen, and civilians at Los Angeles Air Force Base whose roles includes aspects of foreign military sales.
 
“Developing a world-class workforce is among the lines of effort in SSC’s Command Plan,” White said. “Our International Affairs Office is postured to achieve this goal by developing an FMS-savvy workforce. FMS cases are a huge strategic Space Force imperative: from their impact on diplomacy and security to the economic and technological advantages they deliver.”
 
SSC Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant signed a Command Policy Memo in October of 2024 providing guidance and direction for FMS and Building Partner Capacity (BPC) activities across Space Systems Command. This policy memo formalized the role of Space Systems Command International Affairs (SSC/IA) as the focal point for all FMS/BPC and Interagency coordination at the Command, as well as the provider of financial management authority with oversight for all SSC FMS programs.
 
The purpose of the day-long conference was to help level-set and prepare SSC for an increase in FMS cases, said Maj. Simone Zacharias, chief of foreign military sales with SSC’s International Affairs Office. Most of the participants were from SSC, but officials from Space Operations Command and Space Training and Readiness Command, as well as some external stakeholders, also were invited to attend.
 
Space Systems Command is no stranger to Foreign Military Sales to its foreign allies, but up until recently, those cases have been limited to a few niche areas, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) user equipment, Zacharias said.
 
“Now, we’re establishing a consolidated approach because we have FMS cases coming in for complex weapon systems, complex satellite systems across all of the different mission areas,” Zacharias said. “In the past, if you were involved with acquiring GPS user equipment, then you likely had exposure to FMS, but the vast majority of the space acquisition community has not been involved with foreign military sales.”
 
“The dollar value for the cases we’re anticipating is in the billions, and that translates into more acquisitions for our current programs,” said Deidra A.W. Eberhardt, SES director of SSC’s Atlas business innovation organization. “Our workload will increase exponentially, based on the funding coming in from partnerships,” including newer partners in critical Areas of Responsibility such as EUCOM and INDOPACOM.
 
“We cannot be too prepared for what’s coming, because this volume of FMS is new to the U.S. Space Force, so we’re paving the road as we drive down it,” Eberhardt said. “The more we can be prepared and get the Program Executive Officer (PEO) organizations comfortable with incorporating FMS into their acquisition workload, the better off it will be for the actual execution.”
 
“We’ve done FMS cases in the past, but what’s new is that there are more allies seeking our partnership,” Eberhardt added. “And I think the allies’ requirements are much broader than our FMS cases in the past. We are familiar with commercial satellite leases, for example, but those are somewhat system-oriented. We have lines in other FMS cases, but not full cases that we own perhaps with the full magnitude of what’s coming from our partners.”
 
In addition, the United States is more willing to share its space technology with allies than it has been in the past, Zacharias said.
 
“Space capability has been our crown jewel, that we’ve kept extremely classified for the better part of our history. Now we’re understanding that in order for the U.S. to be more lethal, we have to release enabling space technology and bring our allies and partners with us into the joint fight,” Zacharias said. “We’re willing to release space capability in a much more rapid and much larger capacity now than ever before.”
 
But Zacharias noted that SSC will still follow U.S. policies for acquisition practices on what the U.S. military can release to foreign partners. For example, the Buy American Act applies for FMS and it would for any U.S. acquisition.
 
“It’s a team sport, and collaboration is essential for us to be successful,” Eberhardt said. “We need contracting, finance, S1 (personnel) and the PEO organizations with the actual mission capabilities, to work together in order to be successful in delivery.”

 

 

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