The Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR) has been described as ‘first-of-its-kind’. It’s an initiative, conceived by the Department of Defense, the aim of which is to leverage the equipment and expertise of the private sector – both in the United States and in allied countries – to maintain vital satellite capabilities. Eligible companies will provide products or services identified by the U.
S. military as essential for operations, and will need to prove they have the capacity to support the Department of Defense should a war break out. That also entails a commitment to helping to defend America and its allies, said Col.
Richard Kniseley, senior materiel leader of the Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office. And the CASR, on the whole, shows ‘just how serious we are about integrating commercial capabilities along with our military space capabilities’. ‘First-of-its-kind’ is right.
Though the CASR was inspired by the Air Force Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, a post-war initiative involving the use of commercial airlines for transport during emergencies, it’s a truly new and progressive program. There’s a world of difference between lending your planes to the government and actually integrating your equipment in essential military areas like communications, navigation, surveillance, and missile detection. And that’s an illustration of something we’ve all noticed, which is that the world is becoming volatile, conflict is breaking out .
