WE’VE HAD THIS FOR THE AIR FLEET FOR YEARS: DoD weighing options to create ‘commercial space reserve.’

The Defense Department is considering ways to partner with commercial space companies so their services can be accessed during national security emergencies, DoD space policy chief John Plumb told lawmakers April 26.

Plumb, who is assistant secretary of defense for space policy, testified at a House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee hearing on national security space issues.

He said there are ongoing conversations about an initiative led by the U.S. Space Force called “commercial augmentation space reserves.” This is a new project looking at whether it makes sense to create the space equivalent of the civil reserve air fleet, or CRAF, a program the Pentagon conceived 70 years ago to gain access to commercial airlift capacity in emergencies.

People have been talking about this for years, and now it’s about to happen.