WASHINGTON — Congress earmarked $40 million for commercial surveillance, reconnaissance and tracking services in the recently passed fiscal year 2025 continuing resolution spending bill.
Col. Richard Kniseley, director of the Space Force’s Commercial Space Office, said the funding represents a vote of confidence in the service’s efforts to tap the commercial space market.
“It’s great to see support on both sides for commercial space,” Kniseley told SpaceNews. “Having a dedicated budget line for commercial space services is important to give Congress insight and oversight into where we’re going with commercial but also as a beacon for industry and investors to also see where the Space Force is going as well.”
What is COMSO?
Established under the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, COMSO has evolved over the past two years from having a “budget of zero dollars” to becoming a crucial bridge between commercial space technologies and national security needs, said Kniseley. The office vets companies, connects them with funding sources, and helps match commercial technologies with military programs.
The $40 million add-on is one piece of the puzzle. Kniseley noted that there is additional funding for commercial space technology spread across multiple program budget lines, making the total difficult to identify. “We haven’t been able to consolidate all the commercial efforts yet,” he said.
The exact allocation of the additional funds is still being worked out between the Defense Department and congressional committees, he said.
Congress also approved $134 million requested by the Space Force for integrating commercial satellite communications into what insiders call “hybrid architectures” — networks that combine traditional military satellites with commercial systems.
Rather than relying solely on purpose-built military satellites that take years to develop, the Defense Department is increasingly looking to tap into the growing commercial space sector.
“This change has to happen in budget and culture,” Kniseley explained, “really ensuring that people are taking advantage of what’s available right now, rather than just constantly keying in on the same big providers.”
Vetting process
COMSO oversees a portal dubbed “Front Door” where commercial space companies can pitch their products and services to military decision-makers. The office then conducts due diligence to ensure companies don’t have “nefarious capital” or significant supply chain connections to Russia or China.
The initiative has attracted more than 800 vendors so far, according to Kniseley. “We’ve been able to help them meet the right program decision makers, learn about requirements, help them get the investments they need through SpaceWERX and DIU to continue with their projects,” he said.
SpaceWERX and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) are organizations that provide funding for promising space technologies, while the Office of Strategic Capital offers government-backed loans.
Senior Space Force officials have recently spoken about replacing traditional development programs with commercially-based technologies. “COMSO will be the one that shows which are the companies out there that have capability to bear,” Kniseley said.
“It seems that the new administration is very much in the same mindset as we are in COMSO,” Kniseley added, “so I think that the time is right to really take that next step.”
