Gen. James Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command, has approved the development of a new joint component command as part of a broader effort to reorganize authorities and responsibilities of combatant commands, Breaking Defense reported Monday.
The creation of the Joint Force Space Component Command is intended to consolidate SPACECOM’s mission outlined in the revised version of the Unified Command Plan.
According to the plan, SPACECOM is tasked with providing space-based capabilities, such as missile warning, to other combatant commands and defending the U.S. space assets from adversarial attacks.
The command has the authority to decide who gets to use communications satellites on the battlefield and what targets missile warning and space surveillance sensors should monitor.
The reorganization plan is still in early development, but a draft document shows that JFSCC will be responsible for designing, planning and executing global offensive and defensive space-based operations.
It will combine the Joint Task Force-Space Defense headquartered at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado with the Combined Force Space Component Command based at Vandenberg SFB in California.
Space Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of Space Operations Command, will be tapped to lead the new organization, according to SPACECOM sources familiar with the matter.
