NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The head of the U.S. Space Force, Gen. Chance Saltzman, gave a ringing endorsement to a program that leverages commercial satellite imagery and data analytics to support military operations, citing its recent success during the U.S. troop withdrawal from Niger.
Speaking Sept. 17 at the Air Space & Cyber Conference, Saltzman highlighted the “tactical surveillance, reconnaissance, and tracking” (TacSRT) program, which began as a pilot in February to support U.S. Africa Command.
“The goal is to complement the exquisite work done by the intelligence community with unclassified operational planning products delivered on tactically relevant timelines,” Saltzman said.
‘Impressive’ resultsThe results have been impressive, Saltzman said. He highlighted how Space Force units assigned to U.S. European and Africa Commands used TacSRT to maintain surveillance throughout the weeks-long withdrawal. The U.S. troop withdrawal from Niger came after the country’s ruling junta terminated an agreement allowing U.S. military presence in the West African nation.
“The team maintained an overwatch of everything within five kilometers of the base,” Saltzman explained. “On average, the timeline from collection on orbit to delivery into the hands of security forces was about three and a half hours, but the team got it down to as little as one and a half hours by the end.”
“This is just positive proof that space makes a difference and makes the joint force better,” he added.
TacSRT is structured as an online marketplace where commercial vendors bid for task orders requiring the delivery of data-driven insights rather than just imagery.
“It was a pathfinder, with the idea being that we could expand the program if it proved to be value-added, and that’s exactly what it did to date,” Saltzman said, noting that TacSRT had produced over 50 operational planning products for Africa Command. The program supported missions such as monitoring suspicious extremist activity along the Rwanda-Democratic Republic of Congo border and providing critical visual insights during flooding in Kenya in May.
Not buying imagerySaltzman further explained to reporters that TacSRT is distinct from traditional satellite imagery programs. “We’re asking the questions to these commercial providers, and they’re responding to us with operational planning products — basically answers to questions.”
The program, managed by the Space Systems Command in Los Angeles, has attracted attention from lawmakers, noted Col. Richard Kniseley, head of the command’s Commercial Space Office. Congress inserted $40 million for TacSRT in the 2024 defense budget, alongside $10 million for other commercial space services. Kniseley told reporters Sept. 16 that the program delivers operational products to warfighters in an average of 72 hours, covering a range of missions from deforestation monitoring to illegal resource extraction and troop movements.
As the TacSRT program gains traction, Saltzman indicated it would likely be expanded, while emphasizing that it does not conflict with intelligence community agencies’ roles in satellite imagery procurement.
“We’re not buying imagery,” Saltzman stressed. “We’re buying access to information that they provide.”