USSTRATCOM, Spain sign memorandum to share space services, data

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. - U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) signed a memorandum of understanding with Spain to share Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services and information.

The memorandum, signed last December by the USSTRATCOM Director of Plans and Policy, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Clinton E. Crosier, and the Head of the Plans Division, Spanish Joint Staff, Brig. Gen. Manuel Gimeno Aranguez, will enhance each nation’s awareness within the space domain and increase the safety of their spaceflight operations.

“Our space systems underpin a wide range of services, providing vital national, military, civil, scientific, and economic benefits to the global community,” said U.S. Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney, USSTRATCOM commander. “Space situational awareness, which requires cooperation in order to be effective, is one of many approaches used to ensure we continue benefitting from this critical domain.”

“The signature of this situational awareness sharing agreement is a step forward in our cooperation and will be beneficial for both, U.S. and Spain, on sharing space information. It will also enhance the fulfillment of our mutual commitment on space security and defense,” said Brig. Gen. Manuel Gimeno Aranguez.

Spain joins nine nations - the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, Israel, Germany and Australia - two intergovernmental organizations, the European Space Agency and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and over 50 commercial satellite owner/operator/launchers already participating in SSA data-sharing agreements with USSTRATCOM.

“As more countries, companies and organizations field space capabilities and benefit from the use of space systems, it is in our collective interest to act responsibly, promote transparency and enhance the long-term sustainability, stability, safety and security of space,” Haney said.

SSA data-sharing agreements enhance multinational space cooperation and streamline the process for USSTRATCOM partners to request specific information gathered by USSTRATCOM’s Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The information is crucial for launch support, satellite maneuver planning, support for on-orbit anomalies, electromagnetic interference reporting and investigation, satellite decommissioning activities and on-orbit conjunction assessments.