Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Our latest episode of “Meet the Mission” features Daniel Oh and Scott Asack as they demystify TReX®, an innovative solution designed to solve complex challenges related to electronic warfare and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT). They explain TReX’s high-fidelity capabilities, how it’s used for mission planning and warfighter training, and its unique position in the market.

The conversation also delves into Parsons’ role in the industry, the importance of operational experience in developing such tools, and how TReX remains relevant and ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving threat landscape, including its potential applications for the Space Force. They also share insights into career paths in this exciting field and what makes TReX a game-changer for national defense.

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Episode Overview

• 0:00 – 4:29: Welcome and Introductions (Meet the Mission Introduction, Speaker Intros)
• 4:30 – 7:39: Explaining TReX and Tech Influences (How to explain TReX to a 10-year-old, Dinner with a tech expert, introduction to electronic warfare)
• 7:40 – 16:09: Unforeseen Challenges and Go-To Gadgets (Unexpected live test/training incidents, Favorite gadgets)
• 16:10 – 21:38: Personal Journeys and Operational Philosophy (Daniel’s career path, TReX in mission sets, Scott’s “Train like you fight” experience)
• 21:39 – 27:59: Passion for EW & TReX Explained (Excitement for the industry including electronic warfare, High-level overview of TReX)
• 28:00 – 36:24: TReX’s Unique Fidelity and Realism (What sets TReX apart, Fidelity and realism TReX provides)
• 36:25 – 47:19: TReX in Action: Mission Planning and Training Impact (How a mission planner uses TReX in electronic warfare scenarios, User feedback, Enhancing warfighter training)
• 47:20 – 53:49: Customization and the Future of EW with TReX (Customizable training, Future of EW & SIGINT, New TReX capabilities)
• 53:50 – 1:01:09: Building the Team and TReX’s Future (Relevant skills and backgrounds for the industry, Excitement for TReX’s future)
• 1:01:10 – 1:02:00: Space Force Applications and Working at Parsons! (TReX for Space Force and its role in electronic warfare, Join our team!)

More About TReX®

TReX® is a signal emulator that uses software and readily available hardware to provide a realistic threat environment for testing and evaluating electronic warfare (EW) systems. It’s an easy-to-use tool that also enables effective training of warfighters with representative signals of interest, helping to experiment, train, and plan next-gen signals intelligence (SIGINT) and EW operations. Learn more about TReX.

Tune In and Join The Conversation

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to explore the future of technology in electronic warfare with us! Subscribe to “Meet The Mission” on YouTube or Spotify and stay tuned for new episodes released monthly.

The post From Battlefield To Tech Lab: How Parsons Supports Irregular Warfare With TReX® appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

For over half a century, NASA has been shattering the boundaries of human knowledge, venturing into the uncharted realms of air and space. Behind their innovation and discovery for the benefit of humanity lies a network of centers and facilities across the United States that serve as the launchpad for pioneering research, testing, and development in aeronautics and space technology. At Parsons, we’re propelling these groundbreaking capabilities forward through our architectural engineering (A-E) and construction management (CM) services that ensure NASA’s world-class infrastructure continues to fuel unprecedented breakthroughs.

Our decades-long history with NASA includes A-E services for the Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) Test Stand and the design of Space Shuttle Launch Facilities at Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex 6. More recently, we’ve engaged in architecture, design, design-build (D-B), planning, and construction phase services projects for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC) at Fort Irwin, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). At these locations, we collaborated with NASA on a diverse range of projects, from minor office renovations to complex class 100 cleanroom designs and major power and utility distribution A-E projects.

Decades Of Dedication

Goddard Space Flight Center is NASA’S premiere space flight complex and home to the nation’s largest organization of scientists, engineers, and technologists who build spacecraft, instruments, and new technology to study our planet and beyond. We began providing A-E and CM services there in 1995, and in 2000, expanded our role to include construction and IT support through the award of the Facilities, Construction, Engineering, and Technical Services (FaCETS) Contract.

We were subsequently awarded the recompletes in 2011, 2017, and 2023, a testament to the trust we’ve built with the world’s leader in space exploration through leveraging our infrastructure, engineering, and technical expertise. Our commitment has been recognized with the Goddard Contractor Excellence Award in the Large Business Service category and with the Small Business Large Business Primer Contractor of the Year Award. We were also awarded the Mentor/Protégé Agreement of the Year.

Our Impact on NASA’s Infrastructure By The Numbers

• In the past decade, we have completed 237 design projects and provided construction phase services for 805 projects.
• Our D-B support includes 17 GSFC projects over the past six years, valued at more than $12 million.
• In the last 15 years at GSFC, we have completed 25 cleanrooms, 6 data centers, and 203 lab projects.
• Construction Phase Support for MSFC key programs.
• We saved NASA more than $4 million in ventilation costs in Building 7/10 Spacecraft Test and Integration Facility at GSFC through cleanroom value engineering services.

We provided A-E services for GSFC’s Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility, which supported the world’s largest high bay cleanroom and the James Webb Space Telescope missions.

That’s our history with NASA, and today, we remain committed to advancing the agency’s mission through these active contracts:

• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Bass Operating Contract
• Marshall Space Flight Center Construction Phase Services Contract
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory AE Services Contract
• NASA Armstrong AE Services Contract

Our Commitment Continues

NASA trusts us to deliver the infrastructure solutions the agency needs to continue breaking barriers to achieve the seemingly impossible. We’re proven, consistently ranking among the top Design, Construction Management, and Program Management firms in the nation, as reported by Engineering News-Record (ENR).

We have successfully delivered high-quality, cost-efficient design services for thousands of projects across all major construction areas, serving clients worldwide. Our resource pool boasts more than 18,000 employees, including over 1,300 architects and engineers with 2,500 active registrations, providing the capacity, depth, and subject matter expertise to meet infrastructure challenges today and tomorrow.

The post The Sky Is Not The Limit appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

Space and its services no longer only impact the warfighter. With assured position, navigation, and timing, and international data communications now reliant on space assets, threats to commercial, civil, and DoD spacecraft risk disruption to our daily lives. The existing congestion of space, combined with the increasing pace of spacecraft launch, has heightened the competitive nature of space and demand for Space Domain Awareness (SDA). Our ability to monitor, manage, and control space assets is foundational to maintaining U.S. space dominance. However, awareness without context and rapid response capabilities is useless.

The growing number of space, aerial, and ground assets generating data for SDA purposes is beyond the capability of human observers to consume. Currently, information is stored in huge databases for data trending analysis and historical reference. Training operators to see potentially aggressive actions and respond with defensive maneuver plans to avoid conflict is slow, limited in scope, and unsustainable. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) to correlate and propagate spacecraft maneuvers provides actionable data and drives automated responses.

The application of AI/ML in SDA allows for active and continuous monitoring of all space assets without requiring hordes of data analysts. AI/ML analyzes commercial and private data feeds for correlation with civil and DoD data to predict the probability of accuracy. This provides weighted accuracy scores for identifying hostile Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) to be correlated with known foreign asset libraries. Given the “high enough” probability of a UAP and observed aggressive maneuvers, the AI/ML algorithm alerts operators of possible hostile action. In parallel, AI/ML produces defensive maneuver plans, schedules antenna time on the next available ground site, and engages DoD assets to perform space-based surveillance of the UAP.

Within minutes of the threat being detected, the U.S. Space Force monitors and tracks custody of the UAP and predicted threatened spacecraft. Operators maintain awareness of the situation through a virtual reality headset with a digital twin of U.S. space assets, projected orbit paths, and critical data synthesized into digestible statuses. The UAP markings, location, size, and radio frequency signature are cross-referenced with the Unified Data Library to identify it as a known hostile asset. All information, plans, and actions are compiled into a report for the next round of international negotiations and discussions.

Enabling the rapid response of the AI/ML algorithm is a Parsons classified cloud-based, scalable Ground Operations Center as a Service (GOCaaS) with humans in the loop for monitoring and approval purposes. GOCaaS uses a repeatable classified architecture to fly commercial, civil, and DoD space assets. Geographically distributed data centers host operational clusters for redundancy and load balancing purposes, while the digital twin and databases are stored in replicated file structures for quick access and recovery.

Our engineers leverage the Agile process to support a DevSecOps approach with a continuous integration/deployment pipeline. Parsons creates this reality through product and service development to preserve and protect our legacy in the stars. We’re leveraging domain knowledge to perform large system integration to develop solutions today for tomorrow’s threats.

The post Leveraging AI/ML To Protect The Space Domain appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

There’s a revolution happening in the space industry, and we have front row seats. There has been recent news published about how the Government doesn’t want to fund large, unique spacecraft anymore because they are “large, juicy targets.” That also means examining the corresponding ground support from a fresh perspective, acquiring ground capabilities cheaper, faster, and early enough in the process that ground isn’t an afterthought (or “stovepiped”) – without ground, you have a useless rock in the sky. 

There is plenty of room for innovation, and the tide is turning with respect to the trend of using more and more commercial offerings in the space domain. No longer should the Government spend hundreds of millions on ground segments to support spacecraft. With greater numbers of smallsats in space anticipated, ground becomes a bit more difficult due to the sheer volume of spacecraft, but don’t let ground providers fool you – this doesn’t have to come with a price tag. Business models like “as a service” offerings should be utilized to provide resiliency, cost savings, and cybersecurity, leveraging the commercial industry’s technological advancements and speed with which the Government has been unable to keep pace. At every conference, every senior engagement, every meeting, we (the defense industrial base) hear the words that “we need to move faster” and “we need more commercial capability and speed.” In the words of multiple senior leaders in the Space Force, “exploit what we have, buy what we can, and build what we must.”

Taking A Closer Look At The Ground Solution

There is zero need to fund entire armies of ground experts or even operators. None at all. There is also no need for the Government to have to worry about owning and maintaining infrastructure and equipment that becomes obsolete in a short period of time. “As a service” solutions offer the Government the flexibility and resiliency (and any desired level of cybersecurity) at a fraction of the cost by leveraging what already exists. For those that do it right, it can be offered for pennies on the dollar of traditional solutions.

Parsons acquired Braxton Science & Technology Group in 2020, a known disruptor in the satellite ground domain, with a full line of ready-to-go, minimal non-recurring engineering, Commercial Off the Shelf products that outfit any aspect of a satellite operations center – simulation, TT&C, command and control, factory compatibility testing, resource and scheduling optimization, mission planning, front end processors, spacecraft operators and more. We’ve also partnered with multiple commercial antenna providers to stand up OrbitXchange, which allows resilient global access to spacecraft and their data 24/7. We have an innovative commercial spacecraft operations center, which can be run on-prem or cloud-hosted, supporting multiple different missions, classification levels, and unique customer needs with a fully trained spacecraft operations staff. 

How Do We Know That We Can Do This?

We already are. We were sole-sourced the Blackjack Ground Operations contract for DARPA, which is expected to launch this year. We also competed for and won the NOAA POES Extended Life contract to take over spacecraft operations for NOAA’s POES-15, 18, and 19 spacecraft. Leveraging existing commercial capability allowed us to send first vehicle commands within ~5 months of being on contract! We are also on schedule to assume Spacecraft Control Authority (SCA) shortly, enabling NOAA to repurpose their finite resources for other responsibilities. Want more examples? Reach out! Have any spacecraft that either aren’t fully mission capable, or are at the end of their life and/or funding? Give us a call – we’d love to be able to work with you and provide that data without you having to worry about the “how” or “when.” 

Know what else is neat? We’re not only spacecraft ground gurus. We also specialize in digital engineering, space situational awareness, cyber operations, launch integration, alternate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), electronic warfare, and many other exciting markets. When you put all those pieces together, Parsons tells a pretty compelling story for delivering technical solutions and commercial capabilities for hard problems on which our customers have been beating their head against the wall for a while.

Surprised? Just wait and see what else we can do.

The post Working Smarter, Not Harder: Spacecraft Ground Control Made Easy appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

Transforming the battlespace begins with understanding the battlespace. We sat down with Mike Kushin, executive vice president of our high consequence missions sector, to discuss the importance of this distinction and why it sets our team apart in the industry.

He provides insight on the defense and intelligence business and the focus on delivering disruptive solutions with technologies that accelerate the warfighter’s decision chain to help ensure mission success.

Q: What sets Parsons apart in the defense and intelligence industry?

A: We are composed of teams that understand the depth and complexity of our customers’ needs, because many of us were once the customer. We have leaders who once conducted operations on the ground and understand the battlefield geometry where the customer is operating. This real-life experience helps us understand the requirements and the ‘ask.’ Our customers can give us a problem set without knowing the exact requirements but having historical insight into what they are asking allows us to remain lean, agile, and able to put the right people in the right places quickly and effectively. Ultimately, we understand the real mission needs of our customers. We don’t let business objectives get in the way of mission objectives.

Q: How did your time supporting special operations prepare you for working in the federal landscape?

A: In many ways, the problems our customers are facing today are the problems we were forecasting on the horizon yesterday. Now, we can leverage commercial capabilities and are not hamstrung by government restrictions or limitations. When a war fighter comes to us with a need, we are past the testing and evaluation stage and can provide practical technology, tactics, techniques, and procedures to actively solve problems.

Q: How is Parsons supporting the U.S. Special Forces?

A: Our support to special forces colors the spectrum with everything from OSINT and classified development to technical operations and cyber. We provide technology, training, subject matter experts, and advisors — touching the pulse in every discipline. Parsons is leaning forward in a critical industry that is advancing and changing every day. We are increasingly integrated — providing continuity for the government and holistic, scalable solutions to complex problems. We operate in every facet of the multidomain battlespace and address emerging threats by fusing technologies across the now-connected war fighting domains (land, air, maritime, space, and cyber).

The post Defending Against The Threats Of Today — And Tomorrow appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

As we go about our busy days enjoying instant communication and robust national security, space is constantly in motion above us.

The sky is full of satellites orbiting the earth that enable a comfortable and protected modern lifestyle, connection to family and friends around the world, and confidence as we navigate our world – whether through our phones, laptops, or cars – safely.

The process is automatic to us, with minimal effort spent thinking about the magic of the space domain.

Invested in giving missions operationally efficient access to space, Parsons provides multi-manifest launch integration capabilities that expand access to space and maximize the orbit delivery potential of each launch. 

With commercial-off-the-shelf products and custom-build interface carriers, we deliver the full range of hardware and system integration services to integrate your small satellite payload onto a launch system.

These capabilities enable the addition of numerous small satellites onto current space launches to Low Earth and Geosynchronous Orbits, delivering cost-effective launch solutions for U.S. Government spacecraft while helping to scale the Space Force multi-manifest launch paradigm.

As part of our $100 million Launch Manifest Systems Integrator (LMSI) contract with the US Space Force (USSF) Launch Enterprise, we are a proud mission partner in delivering the Landsat-9 evolved secondary payload adapter (ESPA) flight system (L9EFS), enabled by a  USSF innovative cooperative agreement with NASA to enhance access to space for small satellites. The L9EFS is designed to be capable of delivering up to 18 multi-mission small satellites to orbit as part of the NASA Landsat-9 launch mission.

Developed by Parsons and NASA with elements being integrated at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility under the  USSF Mission Manifest Office contract, the L9EFS recently made a cross-country trek to Vandenberg Space Force Base where it  launched on the Landsat-9 mission. Parsons and the USSF successfully integrated and finalized the L9EFS and it was installed and encapsulated for the launch.

L9EFS was just one of a number of launches that Parsons is contracted to deliver or conduct early integration activities for under the LMSI program. 

Congratulations to the Parsons, USSF, and NASA team for the successful Landsat 9 launch on 27 September. Job well done!

Upcoming Missions

ACE Mission: Jun 2023

BLAZE Mission Oct 2023

TALON mission: Aug 2024

The post Unlocking Space appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

Historically, space ground control operations evoke images of a bustling, fully manned room filled to the brim with expensive hardware. Every command would require the full attention of operators and an entire fleet of IT professionals to ensure each piece of hardware continued to run optimally. While these images will likely always be the way Hollywood perceives ground operations, the landscape of satellite ground control is on the threshold of a revolution.

The Space Foundation issued a 2020 Space Report detailing the rapid growth of the space domain, with spacecraft deployments tripling from 2019 to 2020 and a 477 percent increase of communications satellite deployments within the same period. Modernization of legacy spacecraft ground control and mission data processing infrastructure is mandatory to adequately increase capacity for the control and data processing produced by new space systems.

The rapidly expanding commercial space market has overtaxed existing government and commercial ground assets, resulting in financial, time, and availability constraints within all areas of mission control. The implementation of cloud applications is one of the latest technical trends in the industry to alleviate these common operational issues.

We strive to modernize mission solutions and offer hybrid cloud environments, allowing the customer to distribute and scale their mission across on-premise hardware and cloud deployments to balance their budget and mission capabilities. Cloud environments enable immediate scalability for rapidly growing programs and industries, allowing flexibility and operational agility while ensuring continued support for rapidly multiplying needs.

Integrating existing Satellite Operations Center (SOC) capabilities into cloud environments provides comprehensive benefits to all commercial and government satellite customers. With large upfront capital and future recapitalization hardware investments nearly eliminated, cloud-based ground control solutions adequately fit inside notoriously limited SmallSat budgets. Cost savings also include the implementation and maintenance costs typically associated with hardware and software purchases. These savings result in predictable budgeting since it is billed as a service, taking the stress out of hardware ownership—there is no need to worry about additional funds that may be needed due to unexpected hardware failures. Cloud environments level the playing field for start-up space ventures by removing the large capital barrier previously required for on-premise solutions, allowing them to focus on disruptive cloud applications to enter the market, remaining lean and agile.

The ability to access antenna time through a service allows customers to pay by the minute versus the burden of financing and maintaining their own antennas. Legacy stove-piped systems required programs to build entire infrastructures for each mission, but customers can now leverage ground control providers who take advantage of standardized architectures that are enabled by cloud applications.

Automation is a critical aspect of successful cloud environments for ground control. With the help of software, such as our Intelligent Resource Optimizer, fully automated event-based scheduling operations, human-machine collaboration, mission planning, what-if analysis, and continuous deconfliction capabilities are enabled. Automation increases system resiliency and capacity, supporting lights-out 24/7 operations that may not have been financially feasible before cloud capabilities were introduced. In a world of COVID-19 precautions, the flexibility offered by automated cloud applications has allowed critical space missions to continue largely uninterrupted by a global pandemic that has otherwise debilitated countless industries internationally.

Perhaps the most valuable aspects of cloud-based applications are the resiliency and redundancy they offer over traditional structures. Legacy operations require a minimum of two sets of hardware to serve as on-line backups in an instance of failure. In a cloud environment, redundancy is built-in and allows operators to simply bring up another instance if a component were to fail. This ensures continuous availability of systems and prevents the need for multiple sets of expensive hardware components. Redundancy benefits also include automatic data backups for mission-critical information, the revenue-generating function of most space systems, allowing a level of safety and security for an order of magnitude less cost than legacy resources.

Test and validation are often overlooked in the SmallSat world due to limited budgets but are becoming commonplace as cloud capabilities offer simulated environments that provide unlimited resources for test and validation. Our mission solutions leverage cloud applications to provide multiple solutions for test and validation. These solutions range from a Factory Compatibility Tester that tests and validates the RF interface to spacecraft before launch to a common simulation environment that simulates the ground control system, antennas, and spacecraft, allowing test, checkout, and rehearsal of all mission applications, procedures, and staff operations prior to launch. Our cloud environments for testing and validation provide ecosystems to prototype and validate technology while allowing operators and engineers to experiment with new technologies in a realistic environment without risking operational assets.

To maintain pace with the explosive growth of the global space industry, it is often necessary to transition existing systems toward cloud architectures and take advantage of cloud-hosted applications that increase capacities while reducing costs and enhancing efficiencies. The benefits of using cloud applications are exponential, improving competitive edge and redundancy while nearly eliminating significant financial, availability, and time constraints. We fully support the new age of space ground technology and have additional cloud-hosted applications being created throughout the year to support diverse customer and mission needs.

The post Spacecraft Ground Operations Benefit From Cloud Environments appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

Welcome to 2021! Space has become part of our everyday lives—and is transparent to most individuals.

Not only do we rely on space today, it has become a global essential tool and, in some cases, utility, for most of our population. That said, there are specific trends emerging in Space that need to be recognized—and watched for growth, expansion, and innovation:

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For the past 30 years, we’ve been tracking and analyzing the evolving space environment, from low to high Earth orbit. Through our artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, we’ve aggregated and collected geospatial intelligence, made it actionable, and put it into the hands of operators and analysts to enable timely and informed decision-making. Our experts have years of specialized engineering practices with modern, agile software and hardware disciplines, resulting in innovative solutions for current and future space domain capabilities that exceed customer requirements.

Parsons “2021 Emerging Trends In Space” has been published in the Space ISAC (Information Sharing And Analysis Center) newsletter.

The post 2021 Emerging Trends In Space appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

National Defense—The Threats Are Real

The Department of Defense (DoD) created the National Defense Strategy (NDS) in 2018 to provide a constructive first step in responding to multiple crises in defense of the United States. The security and wellbeing of the U.S are at greater risk than at any other time in decades. America’s military superiority—the hard-power backbone of global influence and national security—has been eroding to a dangerous degree. Rivals and adversaries are challenging the U.S. on many fronts in multiple domains. America’s ability to defend its allies, its partners, and its own vital interests is increasingly in doubt. Acting promptly and decisively to remedy these circumstances will preserve the American people, our way of life, and our ability to remain free. We are providing America the solutions to make this a reality.

History

Changes at home and abroad are diminishing U.S. military advantages and threatening U.S. vital interests. Authoritarian competitors, especially Russia and China, are seeking regional hegemony and the means to project power globally and off-planet/celestially. They are pursuing determined military buildups aimed at neutralizing U.S. strengths. Threats have worsened as these countries have developed more advanced weapons and creatively employed asymmetric tactics. Multiple-region aggression, intimidation, and coercion are the tool of choice for our adversaries. The U.S. is in competition and conflict with an array of challenges and adversaries. This situation has created a crisis of national security for the US—and some have declared it an emergency. Parsons, in its continued support to the warfighter, has focused on readiness since our beginning—and continues to do so today.

Readiness

The readiness of U.S. forces to conduct operations as effectively and safely as possible is a crucial component of America’s national security. Readiness of U.S. forces has suffered in recent years, primarily due to extended operations in the Middle East, as well as severe budgetary uncertainty and austerity. DoD efforts to remain prepared have been exemplary, but this requires resources to train to a high level of proficiency across a broader and more technologically challenging range of potential missions than in the recent past. Our team supports the preparations to keep our highly qualified warfighter personnel poised to act across multiple domains.

Threat Assessments

Multiple analyses of adversary threats have been produced and considered, and we realize the speed and agility of the adversary are formidable. For many years, focus on the Middle East and terrorist groups forced our competitive advantage to atrophy technologically while we maintained readiness in our dedicated military personnel. The recently released Defense Space Strategy directly states that the DoD will advance space power to enable the U.S. to regain, compete, deter, and win in a complex security environment characterized by great power competition. Threats, challenges, and opportunities in the current (and future) environment are a focus for all space warfighters. China and Russia have weaponized space and turned it into a warfighting domain. They present the greatest strategic threat due to their development, testing, and deployment of counterspace capabilities and their associated military doctrine. Employment of these systems in a conflict that can and will extend to space is expected.

The rapid expansion of allied, partner, and commercial activities in the space operating environment has provided unprecedented opportunities for collaboration and concurrently drawn in additional facets of domain challenges not seen before. The U.S. Defense Space Enterprise was neither designed nor built for the current strategic environment. The intentions and advancements of potential adversaries in space threaten the ability of the U.S. to deter aggression, protect U.S. national interests, and to fight and win future conflicts. This concern can be mitigated by advancing space power over the next 10 years to enhance and maintain space superiority, provide space support to National, Joint, and Combined Operations, and ensure space stability. We are standing shoulder to shoulder with our
warfighters to accomplish these objectives and more.

The Space Warfighting Domain—Awareness And Missile Warning

Space Domain Awareness (SDA) is fundamental to conducting space operations. SDA is the requisite foundational, current, and predictive knowledge and characterization of space objects and the operational environment upon which space operations depend. This preparation includes physical, virtual, informational, and human dimensions as well as factors, activities, and events of all entities conducting, or preparing to conduct, space operations. Space surveillance assets include a mix of space-based and earth-based sensors. SDA is dependent on integrating space surveillance, collection, and processing; environmental monitoring; status of U.S. and cooperative satellite systems; understanding of U.S. and multinational space readiness; and analysis of the space domain. SDA must incorporate an understanding of the space capabilities and intent of those that pose a threat to our space operations and space capabilities. Given the threat to operations in the Space Warfighting Domain, we have been leaning forward in support of the warfighter, providing mission expertise developed and refined over 20-plus years. We have led the development and delivery of the Integrated Solutions for Situational Awareness (ISSA) suite of applications to the warfighter for over a decade. As the space
domain continues to become increasingly congested and contested, our level of understanding in the mission area is significant. Our expertise in providing space domain solutions is unique, including the development and maintenance of the astrodynamic standards software library managed by U.S. Space Force (USSF) Headquarters. Adding to the integration of space domain awareness and missile defense mitigation, our developers have been the sole partner in developing mission tools to provide real-time missile warning and correlation systems on track to be programs of record for both the USSF as well as U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM).

Our developers have been the sole partner in developing mission tools to provide real-time missile warning and correlation systems on track to be programs of record for both the USSF as well as US Space Command (USSPACECOM). Our team is a leading source for new missile warning and space threat correlation software systems exceeding the present programs today. Our engineers worked with the original developers to integrate multiple generations of existing software and archived data into a unified platform and ensured full compliance with the government software architecture. This expertise is unique to our team and is well-recognized in the SDA and Missile Warning community. We also delivered one of the first Space Domain/Situational Awareness Assessment Tools to U.S. Coalition Partners and is on track to deliver web-based solutions as well.

The establishment of the USSF has driven a renewed energy in providing coalition partners the capability for space assessments and protection methods that are fully synchronized with U.S. capabilities. Our software was the first Domain Awareness solution delivered to the Combined Space
Operations Center baseline for use by coalition partners and U.S. Forces alike. Our internal focus on research and development, software lab development, and expansion set our team apart from other providers to the U.S. Space Force— we go above and beyond every day to maximize warfighter support.

Parsons And Missile Defense—Extraordinary Security

We have been supporting missile defense programs for the past 45 years going back to the Safeguard system of 1975, through President Reagan’s SDIO program of the 1980s, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), and today’s Missile Defense Agency (MDA). We provide Systems Engineering and integration (SE&I) support across the entire layered architecture comprised of networked sensors; multiple ground and sea-based interceptor systems; and a command and control, battle management, and communication network to counter the rapidly evolving and increasingly complex missile threat to quickly deliver missile defense capabilities to the warfighters.

We support the entire system engineering process from technology/ concept/architecture definition and design; development oversight, test and verification; and system assessment to warfighter delivery and operational support.

Our highly trained specialty engineers, physicists, mathematicians, systems engineers, test engineers, and analysts are involved across the entire systems engineering “V.” Our staff supplies the critical missile defense expertise in each of the aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, RF engineering, software engineering, test planning, and execution, systems
engineering, and cyber engineering disciplines to the U.S. and our allies.

We support the development of integrated architecture roadmaps to describe future capabilities by planning and conducting trade studies; and evaluating alternatives, future concepts, and advanced technology development. We assist with program and technical efforts for advanced research of future capabilities and emerging technology knowledge advancement in multiple technical areas, including radar systems, Electro-Optic (EO)/Infrared (IR) active/passive sensors systems, directed energy weapon and fiber lasers, simulation tools, rocket motors, and propellants, computer science signal and data processing, mathematics probability and decision theory, physics, chemistry and materials, mechanical and aerospace engineering, battle management/command and control.

We support the continual discovery of new, advanced technologies to ensure U.S. advantage in the high-stakes missile defense of the homeland, and our forces and allies around the globe. Our engineers analyze and deconstruct future missile defense system requirements tracing these component capabilities onto U.S. Government investment strategy roadmaps.

Our engineers are at the heart of research and development in reducing the size, weight, and power of components that will transition into future weapon systems. Ensuring these technologies will support future hypersonic interceptors, next-generation ballistic missile interceptors, or the space-based sensors requires innovative approaches to create relevant environments for demonstration. Our people aid in the rigorous review of laboratories, manufacturing processes, techniques, and test procedures with an eye to future producibility, quality, and robust outcomes that ensure the maximum effectiveness of these components in applications
that experience zero-g and high-g environments, the vacuum of space, and natural and man-made radiation hazards.

Our engineers support the development of advanced additive manufacturing of components that improve the thermal characteristics of high thrust nozzles, and new production techniques for micro-scale thrusters with applications on satellites and interceptors. Our engineers are developing approaches to demonstrate these capabilities on sounding rockets, going well beyond simple lab experiments, and requiring substantial system integration and engineering to ensure successful execution.

Getting out of the lab and into test ranges and national test facilities requires additional coordination, documentation, security, releasability, and International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) compliance. Our professionals are on hand at these tests and demonstrations to observe, record and recommend experiment changes that seek the edge of component performance.

There are wide-ranging areas of new science and technologies being demonstrated which depend on the engineering acumen of our team. Some examples of R&D underway include seeker technologies and associated sensors and processors; eco-friendly propellants and thrusters; new batteries with improved discharge rates and decreased space, weight, and
power (SWaP), microthrusters, Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) and gyroscopes; and so on. Emphasis on radiation hardening, survivability, and robustness to the operational conditions of weapons and sensors challenge our engineers to find technology ready to transition.

Pushing the envelope of missile defense technology requires more complex techniques or testbeds that increase flexibility while reducing cost per demonstration or permitting greater repeatability. Our engineers are at the hub of space technology testbeds. Our contributions have created a
more comprehensive understanding of space operations and experimentation resulting in an end-to-end capability to demonstrate new, low SWaP components in space. This exciting research and development approach requires extensive coordination and systems engineering rigor and agility on a minimal budget.

Our engineers are leading the development of ground stations, coordination of launch services, and nanosatellite testbeds to develop new software-defined radio components to demonstrate high-assurance internet protocol encryptors, mesh networking, and optical intersatellite links in the harsh environment of space.

As the missile threat continues to evolve, we are engaged in the threat space characterization, architecture development and balancing, technology prioritization, and strategy to field a robust defensive system. The design of such a system requires interaction across DoD and with the warfighter to ensure existing assets are being brought to bear and critical pieces of the
architecture, such as space assets and communications, are based upon mission needs to drive their systems’ engineering and design activities.

We participate in system and subsystem engineering technical reviews and assists with requirements development through the various corporate board processes. We support the development of the incremental system design documents, system specifications and system interface control documents. We have expertise in executing System Requirements Reviews
(SRRs), Preliminary Design Reviews (PDRs), and Critical Design Reviews (CDR)s, and acquisition activities leading to production.

We support advances in manufacturing technologies for composites and adaptive manufacturing techniques a technical member on the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP), Space Industrial Base Working Group (SIBWG), Joint Army Navy NASA Air Force (JANNAF) Programmatic and Industrial Base, and Critical Energetics Materials Working Group (CEMWG).

We assist with the acquisition, development, and execution of high-fidelity element- and system-level models and simulations for development and operations. This activity encompassesM&S strategic planning; development and operations; capability assessment; and requirements engineering; as well as element-level M&S capability analysis, planning, execution, and operations. It includes establishing, maintaining, and refining M&S data elements and parameters to validate the M&S domain; driving test and analysis activities to collect data to anchor M&S to actual test results; and delivering integrated assessments of M&S concept analysis, performance, integration, tests, wargames and exercises, and user training.

We have been providing test and evaluation (T&E) support to the missile defense community since 2001. We assist with planning, developing objectives and requirements, and execution for integration, test, and verification functions and activities to verify functional requirements are met at the system and subsystem levels. We support specialized associated operations that are conducted in conjunction with developmental and
operational test events.

We establish a trace from each system-level requirement to one or more element requirements and system-level verification data obtained through test events. We develop technical assessments to evaluate and demonstrate the performance capabilities of the delivered configuration as it evolves, along with the associated capabilities and limitations. These technical assessments also evaluate the operational integrity and confirm system safety in different configurations.

We understand data flows and coordination across multiple areas of responsibility. We currently work with the warfighting community to develop warfighter strategic integration and policy development; operations and strategic integration support; 24/7 operations/situational awareness; and program and system-level warfighter execution. We keep the Functional/Geographic Combatant Commands (CCMDs), Service Component Commands, and the Joint Functional Component Commands
(JFCCs) fully engaged in acquisition processes–define, develop, test, and field.

Our Solutioning: Looking At The Threat Tonight And Tomorrow

We provide technical engineering support for Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management (C3BM) systems, to include multi-domain integration for air, land, sea, and space systems. These integrated systems provide early warning of missile attacks, tracking missiles during all phases of their flight, assessing the threat posed to the U.S., its deployed
forces and other friendly forces and assets, and finally by engaging and destroying threat warheads before they reach their targets. Our professional team provides detailed spiral and product engineering support to assist in managing the capabilities that see, assess, and react to the missile threats.

In support of high-level systems of systems (SoS) phased system requirements implementation, we define subsystem-level requirements and capabilities to support the overall assessment of product performance through lab testing, live-fire testing, and deployed/operational testing. Our team also assesses the DoD Cyber Security certification and authorization process and evaluates the cybersecurity requirements, risks, controls, and artifacts for missile-related command and control systems. C3BM requirements are derived from reporting components as well as the needs and constraints of the warfighter operating the command and control system. We collaborate with sensor-weapon engineering teams to define coordinated design implementations for the integrated system-level capabilities defined in the system specification. We provide technical oversight of the algorithm development process in which advanced technologies are evaluated from concept through deployment. We provide assessment and analysis of candidate technologies as they progress through seven Algorithm Readiness Levels (ARLs) of concept, design, prototyping,
maturation, and eventual implementation into the fielded C3BM system. We produce DoD architecture framework documents such as interface control specifications and interface design documents supporting command/control behavior diagrams to include system views and operational views. We provide engineering oversight to define interface and connectivity requirements between SoS components. Our team generates communication network designs that connect subsystem components, including terrestrial and SATCOM systems, to all tactical Combatant Commands. At the tactical level, we work with multiple agencies and warfighter commands to integrate with DoD teleport and Standard Tactical Entry Point (STEP) sites to reach remotely deployed warfighters.

We provide planning, assessments, execution support, and analysis of the test assessment plans outlining the developmental testing process for spiral development products. Our team provided integral day-to-day combatant command level operational assessments of the deployed architectures and test event data analysis and assessments supporting the verification, validation, and assessments (VV&A) of the systems. Our team maintains databased information to provide continued training feedback and operational issue/resolutions to provide critical feedback to the ‘spiral-next’ development program ensuring that the C3BM systems continue to support the defense against the ever-changing threats.

We support the multi-domain warfighters with operational and analytic experience to assess the factors impacting potential periods of interest and predict these timelines to ensure the missile defense assets are activated on a timeline to support data collection of test events and defense when needed. Combining the analytic capabilities with the operational experiences, our wargames the potential outcomes allowing missile defense warfighters to place assets and develop CONOPS to maximize impact.

We support the entire lifecycle design and assessment of the expansive missile defense communication network. We evaluate communication path performance and accreditation and provided unsurpassed technical assistance to deployment activities supporting fielding/ sustainment and critical operational test events executed around the world. We continued our efficient performance by fielding secure communications upgrades to U.S. Air Force assets and incorporating inflight interceptor communications
into warfighter operational integration and execution.

We apply decades of C3BM deployment/sustainment experience with military expertise to respond to warfighter requests. We were a key developer of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, GMD Communications Network (GCN), and GMD flight/ground test events during its successful deployment.

We are very much involved with these and other cutting-edge efforts. We are involved in every step of the way in the offense and defensive posture when it comes to the emerging Hypersonic threat: from prevention, detection, anticipation, warning, defense, recovery, and response—we stand ready to support. Today, we are leveraging our Command and Control capabilities as well as our expertise to expand and grow against this emerging threat landscape. We are dedicated to solutioning—and will continue to innovate in this arena—our warfighters are counting on us!

Challenges In Domain Awareness And Protection—We Are “Going Boldly” Into The Future

Our solutioning is providing an innovative path forward for the U.S. and its allies. The support we present is unique in that it contributes insights incorporating current technology, intelligence, academic, and commercial views. The edge this creates is both creative and required: the enemy is moving faster every day to defeat and eliminate the freedoms we value. The insights and expertise we provide allow for advanced planning, execution, and assessment analysis by the warfighter. The advantage created allows immediate combat operations if needed, while also allowing margin to encourage the brilliant, dedicated Parsons team members to serve by creating innovative products and capabilities that look “beyond the next launch.” We are is best-in-class and continues to stand watch and serve the multi-domain warfighter. Our history and proven track record of rapid approval, deployment, and support for national and coalition capabilities are foundational—and we are accelerating every day to provide seamless solutioning support for the warfighter in the dynamic air, space, cyber, and other emerging domains.

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In my last article, the establishment of the United States Space Force (USSF) was the focus. Shifting now to the warfighting domain of space, I’ll turn to the establishment (re-establishment, actually) of United States Space Command (USSPACECOM).

First, to reduce any confusion between USSPACECOM and the US Space Force: Why do we need both? Keeping it simple: The USSF is an independent military service, similar to the Army, Navy, and Air Force that organizes, trains, and equips forces to support operations in the space domain. USSPACECOM is a combatant command similar to CENTCOM or PACOM that engages in combat operations.

Long before the discussions on the establishment of the USSF, government, civilian, and military strategists were driving the reestablishment of a Space Combatant Command: USSPACECOM. This reactivation was a vital first step in the recognition of the Space Warfighting Domain—and the importance of our ability to operate in, through, and to space, as well as support the National Defense Strategy of the United States. Activation of the new Command required significant changes to the Presidentially approved Unified Command Plan (UCP).

Back in 1985, when USSPACECOM was first stood up, the United States was operating in a Cold War environment. The Space Domain was a new operating medium focused on technology improvements and new on-orbit systems. The goal was to improve mission effectiveness, and work progressed on both innovation and digital implementation.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, caused a total to refocus on different missions—homeland defense and pursuit of the terrorists that attacked the United States. This refocus drove a full restructure of the U.S. Combatant Commands and USSPACECOM was deactivated in support of other higher priorities. The long period between 2001 and 2019 had us focused on this protection mission, counterterrorism, and preventing further attacks on the United States and its Allies. Unfortunately, this focus allowed our international adversaries to seize the initiative and take control of the Space Domain while we were protecting ourselves.

The last ten years have seen a proliferation of adversary space systems—and removed any fighting edge we may have had in the early 1990s. We were also constrained during this time: The term Space Warfighting Domain was not allowed in policy or war-planning discussions, for fear of igniting a Cold War in Space. We are still a robust spacefaring nation but have lost ground in the accelerating technology race with our adversaries; space continues to remain a very challenging environment. The first step in addressing these issues came from the White House’s National Space Council in late 2018, announcing the establishment of USSPACECOM as a Unified Combatant Command, and the second in further defining the space warfighting domain in 2019 with Space Policy Directive-4.

Both of these actions refocused the attention on the Space Domain that had been lacking for the previous ten-plus years. Congress proceeded with the confirmation process of General Jay Raymond, USAF, as the Commander of USSPACECOM, and supported the update and modification of the Unified Command Plan (UCP). The UCP approval and confirmation occurred in June 2019, with the formal activation of USSPACECOM occurring on August 29, 2019.

The Command

Overview And Leadership:

USSPACECOM is the newest of the eleven unified commands in the Department of Defense (DoD). It increases the ability of the Joint Force to project power and influence, reduces decision timelines for space operations, and brings focused attention to defending U.S. interests in space. Establishing USSPACECOM was a critical step in acknowledging the importance of space to vital U.S. interests and in accelerating the ability of the Joint Force to defend these interests and deter adversaries. While it is temporarily headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, with additional personnel and functions at Schriever AFB, Colorado, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, and Vandenberg AFB, California, a future permanent location is being considered.

The USSPACECOM mission is to deter aggression and conflict, defend U.S. and allied freedom of action, deliver space combat power for the Joint/Combined force, and develop joint warfighters to advance U.S. and allied interests in, from, and through the Space Domain. This warfighting mission is accomplished by focusing on four specific mission areas:

Deterring Aggression/Conflict:

USSPACECOM strengthens national deterrence through the provision of space warfighting options to preserve the U.S. and allied competitive advantage, promote security and stability.

Defending U.S./Allied Interests:

If deterrence fails, USSPACECOM, in coordination with allied and joint force commanders and inter-agency partners, will lead the protection and defense of our combined interests in the space domain.

Delivering Space Combat Power:

USSPACECOM will preserve and expand space combat power enabling joint and combined force success.

Developing Ready And Lethal Joint Warfighters:

USSPACECOM will improve the development of joint space operations forces and capabilities to enhance space warfighting readiness and lethality while accelerating the integration of space capabilities into other warfighting forces.

Important To Mention Are Two Subordinate Commands Within USSPACECOM:

The Combined Force Space Component Command (CFSCC) and Joint Task Force Space Defense (JTF-SD). The CFSCC plans, integrates, conducts, and assesses global space operations in order to deliver combat relevant space capabilities to Combatant Commanders, Coalition partners, the Joint Force, and the Nation. The JTF-SD conducts, in unified action with mission partners, space superiority operations to deter aggression, defend U.S. and Allied interests, and defeat adversaries throughout the continuum of conflict.

One key relationship, not often addressed when discussing USSPACECOM, is its interactions with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The NRO is one of the 17 agencies making up the Intelligence Community (IC). The NRO has been successful in designing, building, and operating the Nation’s space intelligence assets, and has a long and close relationship with the DoD. Integration of the NRO and its Speed-to-Orbit abilities was discussed, and a more formalized integration and cooperation approach was developed before the USSPACECOM formal activation. The IC and the DoD agreed to align USSPACECOM and the NRO, utilizing a new unified defense concept of operations at the National Space Defense Center (NSDC), which became a center of gravity for defending our vital interests in space. This unified structure fully integrates IC and DoD space defense plans, authorities, and capabilities to ensure the seamless execution of space defense systems. If any conflict extends into the space domain, the NRO will take direction from the Commander of USSPACECOM and execute defensive operations based on a jointly developed playbook, informed by a series of exercises and war games. Both General Raymond and the current NRO Director, Chris Scolese, have cemented this relationship and continue an open dialogue on improving mission operations and cooperation.  

Space Is A Critical Contributor To The Success Of The United States:

Economically, informationally, and militarily there is a bright future for Parsons if we continue the pursuit of excellence in the Space Warfighting Domain—Go Boldly!

Parsons And The United States Space Command

Why Parsons? We’re different and in pursuit of a better way to get the mission accomplished. Across our Federal and Critical Infrastructure business units. We have been impacting the National Defense Strategy for over Seventy-Five Years. Our customers know our contributions and we have been delivering value through scalable, fast, disruptive solutions to our customers’ most complex defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure challenges. We provide deep domain expertise to develop solutions both for now and for the future, as well as apply our exceptional technology capabilities to stay ahead of the competition and our customers’ needs. Finally, we bring everything together with an unmatched cybersecurity toolset. These qualifications help to present a formidable solution for the United States Space Command. Our present work in space spans from Small Satellite Launch Integration to Payload Development, as well as Space Cyber & EW Resiliency. We are key providers of Space Domain Awareness and are contributing to the future of Space Security and Defense.

This journey will continue—look for future articles on the Space Domain and other mission areas where the Parsons team is providing warfighting innovative solutions.  

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