Space Force, global partners to receive ‘Kobayashi Maru’ space tracking system

May 11 (UPI) — The U.S. Space Force announced the development of a software package to track and monitor objects in space.

The branch’s Space Command and Control Program Office called the operational platform — named Kobayashi Maru, for a training exercise depicted in a “Star Trek” episode — a “breakthrough” of particular use to a five-nation coalition of space observers.

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The United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada comprise the FVEY, or “Five Eyes” Alliance, which provides joint cooperation in signals intelligence, human intelligence and other forms of military intelligence to its members.

Each government’s intelligence community is involved in mutual collaboration. The United States’ involvement includes the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the FBI, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

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The new software, produced in a contract with California-based Palantir Technologies, “can host coalition-releasable mission workflows and applications for utilization by coalition exchange officers,” Space Force said in a statement on Friday said. The contract was announced on April 14.

“The Space C2 — Kobayashi Maru — data-as-a-service platform will provide the United States Space Force a robust and flexible set of data streaming and storage technologies as well as data access patterns for the Space C2 system-of-systems,” according to a program description obtained by Space News. “The vendor shall provide software licenses and professional services (as necessary) to implement this integrated platform and train users.”

Its goal involves simplification of tracking of objects in space, referred to as “space domain awareness,” with the opportunity to replicate all data by partner nations.

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“As a result of the new platform becoming operational, coalition members at the CSpOC — Combined Space Operations Center — can now fully employ the application, sharing that mission responsibility with our U.S. military members,” said Col. Scott Brodeur, CSpOC director.

The data services will be tested at the Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and the National Space Defense Center at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., the United States’ primary locations for tracking orbital actions and objects in space.

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