As the newest military service, the U.S. Space Force has been constantly evolving since its creation in 2019. That includes identifying warfighter needs and gaps in capabilities to enable greater defense of America’s space assets and the nation.
But how do those needs and gaps get identified? And how does the USSF work to fill them?
Mike “Ringo” Lezaun, Space Systems Command’s Warfighting Integration Office liaison to SPACECENT headquarters and CENTCOM headquarters, said it usually starts with national security interests and priorities.
“The Commander in Chief, along with his staff and advisors, establish the security interests and priorities which evolve into the mission. To keep it simple, for example, the mission to secure a certain area,” Lezaun explained. “The combatant command – e.g. CENTCOM, NORTHCOM - would go ahead and assess what’s needed to accomplish that mission – the mission analysis – they’ll determine if there are any gaps associated with that mission, and they’ll submit those gaps as requirements through the Joint Staff or the individual services via their service component (e.g. SPACECENT, ARCENT).”
The gap might be something such as the inability to monitor enemy activity in the area that needs to be secured, Lezaun added. The combatant command is relying on several team-of-teams inputs to analyze the problem, determine how to proceed and identify the gaps.
“It’s leveraging capabilities from the whole of government, such as diplomacy, information, military, economic, financial, intelligence, and law enforcement (DIME-FIL). Everything we know about the threat, the goals that support national interest, and the whole of government options goes into that mission analysis,” Lezaun said. “The whole of government is part of that calculus; it is important for all to understand that the military, U.S. Department of Defense, is another medium that can be used to execute national interests.”
The gap is sent to Joint Staff or, if it is part of a specific military service mission area, it is sent to that service via the component command. For example, CENTCOM might relay the gap to USSF via SPACECENT, if the gap is part of the Space Force mission, to "secure our Nation's interests in, from, and to space." If a joint solution is required, such as acting in concert with the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Marines, then the gap would go through Joint Staff.
“The combatant commands are agnostic on who provides the capability,” Lezaun said. “They just want the capability to close the gap.”
If the gap is identified as something USSF does not have right now, or is working on, then it goes to the Chief Strategy and Resourcing Officer (CSRO), Lezaun said.
“CSRO leverages all of Space Force enterprise to see what can bridge the gap,” Lezaun said. “Space Systems Command (SSC), all of the labs, like AFRL, SpaceWERX, TAP Labs (Tools, Applications, Processing) and the national space security enterprise, to include commercial industry.”
If there’s an existing technology or process that can be fielded in less than two years, there’s a DoD codified process called (J)UON – (Joint) Urgent Operational Need – which is funded from existing funds. JUON is the joint process that goes through the Joint Staff, and UON is internal to the services. If the solution is something that will require more than two years to acquire or develop, it goes through the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) , Lezaun said.
“At SSC, we are enabling closer coordination between the combatant commands and the acquisition community by placing Liaison Officers within each Space Force Components,” said USAF Col. Minpo “Po” Shiue, director of SSC’s Warfighting Integration Office.
“Currently we have SSC Warfighting Integration Office Liaisons deployed out to the Space Force components in INDOPACOM, CENTCOM, SOCOM, EUCOM/AFRICOM, SOUTHCOM, USSPACECOM and SpOC,” Shiue added. “The LNO’s job is to assist the components with integrating new capabilities into day-to-day operations and to facilitate dialog between the components and SSC during the acquisition process to ensure the right capabilities are being delivered.”
“SSC Liaisons also help shepherd the JUON/JEON process and notify SSC PEOs of any potential JUON/JEON that are being submitted,” Shiue said. “By working with our acquisition professionals early in the process, we can help shape the requirements so they are feasible and executable and potentially can meet the needs of the combatant commands with existing capabilities through modifications or upgrades.”
“These processes are complex because our world is far from simple,” Lezaun said. “A lot of the problems that we’re trying to solve - and their solutions - are extremely complex and we want to make sure that we get it right or as close to right as possible. We do our due diligence to get it as close as possible to right, so we don’t create unforeseen mistakes, errors, second- or third- order effects that we can’t handle.”
The Global Positioning System (GPS) we enjoy today was decades in development, Lezaun noted. In order to stay ahead of the competitors and adversaries, USSF needs to be planning five to 20 years in the future.
Identifying and filling capability gaps isn’t just from the top down. Through SSC’s Commercial Space Office (COMSO), Industry and Reverse Industry Days, highlighting a particular need or capability gap, offer unique opportunities for the commercial space industry to let the Space Force know what they have to offer in those fields.
If a USSF Guardian has an idea for a way to meet a capabilities gap or a more efficient way of doing things, there are several avenues to get those ideas in front of leadership for decision.
SSC’s annual “Fight Tonight” competition – now in its fourth year – allows military and civilian employees to identify and submit proposals for technologies that bridge capability gaps. In this year’s competition, SSC has teamed with SpaceWERX to rapidly accelerate novel technology adoption by leveraging the TACFI funding pathway.
Submitters will be competing for a total potential funding pool of up to $24 million for eligible SBIR Phase II initiatives, with SSC putting forward up to $12 million in funding and SpaceWERX matching up to $2 million per project.
Now more than ever, innovative solutions are required by the Space Force to deliver new and needed capabilities in this era of rising global competition, said Capt. Erin Lindsey, chief of business innovation for SSC’s Atlas X.
“The easiest way to put it is that it takes a village,” Lezaun said. “To meet these goals, you can’t just have one organization or one person. The Space Force has so many ways to accomplish capability solutions, whether within the force, with our space industry commercial partners or our international allies. That worldwide network of common goals allows us to be diverse and dynamic.”
A version of this article appeared in the September 2025 issue of Milsat Magazine