The capability — dubbed “Swarm” — is in nascent development, but envisioned as a multi-classification digital environment where guardians from various units can come together against simulated adversaries. According to Maj. Gen. Timothy Sejba, head of the service’s Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), early versions of Swarm were built for the Space Force’s primary mission planning and operational support exercise series known as Space Flag.

“The Space Flag that we just completed here about a month and a half ago, many of the threats that we faced were simulated in that environment,” Sejba said Thursday during a webinar hosted by the Mitchell Institute. “You had crews from across the Space Force that were actually executing over a two-week period to understand how they would actually perform in the environment.”

Sejba noted that the environment is currently only available to STARCOM on-prem, and that the service is focused on delivering the “initial aspect of Swarm” by the end of 2025. At the same time, the Space Force is planning to move the capability to the cloud sometime in the next two years so it can scale the size and scope of its future training and test exercises, he added.

“We’re quickly building not only the red threats that we need to represent, but also all of the blue systems that are coming online over the next several years,” Sejba said. “Then we’re quickly moving it to the cloud so we can get to a distributed training capability that allows each of those guardian units to actually be able to [train] from their home stations, but do it over and over.”

That means guardians from multiple units in different locations can simultaneously train in the simulated environment and prepare for more complex threats, such as fighting against multiple adversaries at once, he noted. 

Swarm is part of the Space Force’s broader effort to modernize and build out its training infrastructure — a task that is both one of Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman’s top priorities and a significant challenge for the Pentagon’s newest service. The service’s flagship development program is the Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI), which seeks to combine digital, cyber and live-training ranges under one system.

Developing OTTI from scratch, however, has been a challenge. Sejba highlighted that while the other services have had decades to build their test and training infrastructures, the Space Force has only had a few years to do so.

STARCOM also recently divided the OTTI effort into two distinct paths, Sejba noted. One tackles the need for a distributed training capability that is being built out by Swarm, while the other focuses on developing a high-fidelity, realistic simulation environment — a system akin to the Air Force and Navy’s Joint Simulation Environment (JSE), which is used to train pilots for complex combat scenarios.

“Something like JSE is something that we will eventually need. I would argue we probably need it sooner rather than later so that we’ve got our own capability to do some of this high-end testing [and] training,” Sejba said. “When I explore something like JSE, in that kind of environment you can very quickly translate that to what that might look like for space and the kind of high-end training that you’d be able to do for guardians in the near future.”

Sejba acknowledged that a limited budget likely means it will be several years before STARCOM has a true JSE-like training environment, but the Space Force is in the meantime leveraging prior work done by the Air Force and Navy to develop the system.

“We know what it’s going to take to be able to adopt that environment,” he said. “We’ve done plenty of research to see if that’s the right environment for us to go forward with, and we certainly know what some of the other services need also from a space effects standpoint.”

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Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) hosted the inaugural event Dec. 11-15. Red Skies is envisioned as an annual training experience that emphasizes “orbital warfare” disciplines, according to the Space Force. The simulation-based exercise enabled guardians from Space Operations Command (SPoC) to hone skills in orbital mechanics and satellite flight relevant for Space Force operations.

“Realistic simulation like this allows us to refine tactical skills that drive us towards tactically relevant thinking … more towards what it means to ensure space superiority,” STARCOM Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Todd Moore said in a statement.

During the exercise, guardians trained for tactical command-and-control operations and how to operate multiple satellites, all while engaging opposing forces in a simulated environment, according to a Space Force press release.

While the first event was held entirely through simulations, the service plans to eventually incorporate real-world satellites — similar to the “live-fire” training demonstrated during Black Skies.

“Red Skies will grow from here, expanding to include more units under realistic command and control scenarios with an emphasis on executing coordinated, integrated space sorites,” Lt. Col. Scott Nakatani, commander of the 392nd Combat Training Squadron, said in a statement. “We are building service orbital warfare experience in simulation with an eye on transitioning Red Skies into the live-fly on-orbit exercise we need as a service.”

The inaugural Red Skies exercise was initially slated for summer 2023, but was delayed until the end of the year, according to a July report from Breaking Defense.

“I can confidently say that this ‘first-ever’ will become a mainstay in how SpOC and STARCOM partner to ensure we achieve the true goals and objectives of advanced training,” Moore said. “There is a lot more to come as we iterate on a capability like this and will drive to include every SpOC Delta that wants to prove they are ready.”

STARCOM was able to identify requirements that will allow future Red Skies exercises to grow, including ways to improve the orbital warfare simulations and streamline integrated sortie planning processes. Moore noted that those requirements will serve as a cue for the space industry to develop the needed capabilities to train guardians on relevant threats — a key priority for Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.

“Competition and combat in space is new and current space capabilities are vulnerable. We need to be equipped and ready for any conflict in, from, or through space,” he said in a statement. “During Red Skies, these Guardians achieved more for [orbital warfare] readiness than anything else we’ve done to date as a combined STARCOM/SPOC team.”

Red Skies is part of STARCOM’s series of “Skies” events. The service has already held three Black Skies exercises tailored to electromagnetic warfare operations, and it’s planning to begin another event focused on cyber warfare called Blue Skies.

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Known as the Black Skies exercise, the live simulation training initiative is aimed at developing Space Force guardians’ skills in tactical space electromagnetic warfare operations. Black Skies is one of three iterations in the Skies series hosted by Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM); its others are Red Skies, focusing on “orbital warfare,” and Blue Skies, which trains guardians in cyber warfare.

The latest training event, which was held in late September, focused largely on defending against simulated threats to drones, which were run by the Air Force 26th Weapons Squadron’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft Electronic Combat Officer Course (RECOC), according to a Space Force press release. 

At the same time, the Space Force looped in the Army for one of its Skies exercises for the first time. During the training, the Army’s 1st Space Brigade participated by “processing multi-intelligence data from a diverse array of sensors,” highlighting cross-service collaboration and operational planning, the release stated.  

Like in past Black Skies exercises, September’s event integrated “live-fire” training where guardians transmitted signals from Earth to real satellites in orbit. This time, the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) was able to conduct command and control of different distributed units from multiple services, while also honing joint operational requirements, it added.

“Black Skies has been a massive success in training our forces and testing warfighting readiness,” Lt. Col. Scott Nakatani, 392nd Combat Training Squadron commander, said in a statement. “The planning and execution team is small, but extremely talented and we will continue to evolve the delivery of realistic combat training to space warfighters.” 

Using real-world systems are crucial for space exercises, “as they provide a realistic training environment, allowing participants to better prepare for actual combat by engaging with real-world, operational space systems,” the release noted. Guardians were also able to practice the same procedures in a closed-loop environment, which does not use physical space systems.

Overall, the third Black Skies event was STARCOM’s largest thus far and included over 170 personnel from various units in the Space Force, Air Force and Army. 

Hosting more frequent Skies exercises has been a key priority for Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman. He told DefenseScoop in April that the current training tempo is “insufficient,” and that the nascent service is moving as quickly as it can to increase the number of exercises each year.

“You’re not going to have the throughput that really gets the number of guardians through those training exercises that I think is required to really advance the training and the skills of the broader set of guardians that we need,” Saltzman said during a media roundtable at the annual Space Symposium.

A Space Force release noted that focus is now shifting towards the upcoming Concept Development Conference, hosted by the service’s 392nd Combat Training Squadron, that will outline exercises to be held in fiscal 2024. 

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Although much of the service’s efforts have been focused on simulations that better suit digital warfighting operations in the space domain, the mission still demands that guardians be trained in live scenarios, such as how to operate spacecraft and work ground control systems, said Maj. Gen. Shawn Bratton, commander of Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM).

“I think a big change — certainly from when I came up, but even more in recent years — is we’re shifting back a little bit more into live training,” Bratton said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by the Mitchell Institute. 

He noted that training for live space ops in the past has been primarily done in a classroom setting where warfighters would discuss missions and potential outcomes, with just some simulation training available.

“Now the discussion is, ‘Why aren’t we flying a spacecraft in training? Why aren’t we getting some sort of reps and sets … in the training environment?’” he said. “If we can move that back into the training pipeline, I think there will be value added.”

Adding those physical training elements within STARCOM’s purview will alleviate some training responsibilities for Space Operations Command (SPoC), he noted.

Since its creation in 2019, the Space Force has been on a campaign to build tools and infrastructure that will help guardians hone their digital warfighting skills in the space and cyber domains. Much of those efforts are directed at high-fidelity simulators that virtually connect guardians to a simulated space environment.

While digital skills are key for the Space Force, guardians should also be able to receive training on the physical aspects of the space domain, Bratton said. He pointed to programs at the Air Force Academy that give students experience in building and flying spacecraft as an example.

“They’re on crew, they understand ground systems, how to schedule the antenna pass times — all of these sort of fundamental concepts that apply, regardless of what spacecraft you end up flying in your career. We think we can bring that back into training through simulation, but also with some live activity,” he said.

STARCOM plans to build out a National Space Test and Training Complex (NSTTC) that will act as “the gym to go work out the force,” and it has already hosted the first of the service’s Skies exercises, Bratton said. The complex will have scalable training capabilities for both synthetic and live environments that support the service’s mission areas: electronic warfare, orbital warfare, cyber operations and digital connectivity. 

“The NSTTC is the broad label that we put on the range that we’re building, but it’s not a physical piece of real estate that we own,” Bratton explained. “It’s those on-orbit capabilities, the ground sensors and then the infrastructure that ties it all together for command and control and gathering data.”

As STARCOM continues to scale the training complex, it’s looking for industry’s help in ensuring its four mission areas are integrated and able to be trained on together, Bratton said. 

“How do I bring capabilities together and then let it unfold in a live-virtual-constructive way? And so, we haven’t quite cracked the code on that completely,” he said. “We have some simulation capability, [but] I think that’s an area where we need more help. We have some underlying infrastructure and we have a vision of where we want to go … but it’s an area where we’re going to need industry’s help.”

Also to help with integration, the Space Force is on the cusp of publishing a new vision and roadmap that will outline how the service will bring together how it trains its space, cyber and intelligence teams, Bratton said. Right now those three groups of operators are trained separately, but that isn’t how real-world missions would be carried out, he noted.

“Right now we tend to train them in individual groups — especially space, cyber and intel. We don’t operate that way though. Usually there’s representative space, cyber and intel on the crew force,” Bratton said. “And so again, I’ve shifted training burden inadvertently to SPoC. I think STARCOM needs to do a better job.”

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Known as the Skies exercise series, the live simulation training events are aimed at developing guardians’ command-and-control skills. Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) has already completed two exercises focused on live-fire electronic warfare operations — Black Skies — including one in September and another last month. 

The current tempo “I think is still insufficient,” Saltzman told DefenseScoop at a media roundtable during the Space Symposium.

“You’re not going to have the throughput that really gets the number of guardians through those training exercises that I think is required to really advance the training and the skills of the broader set of guardians that we need,” he said. “But baby steps — we’re working through this as quickly as we can.”

The next Black Skies exercise is now slated to be held sometime this fall.

STARCOM is also planning for two more live simulation exercises in the Skies series — Red Skies will focus on “orbital warfare,” while Blue Skies will train guardians in cyber warfare.

Since taking the helm as the Space Force’s top officer in November, Saltzman has made readiness one of his key priorities. That not only includes more frequent exercises, but the development of robust testing and training environments that leverage modern capabilities.

When asked by DefenseScoop if he thought the Space Force currently had the adequate training infrastructure to complete its upcoming Skies exercises, Saltzman said present resources are not enough.

“We are upping our resourcing to build the kind of testing and training infrastructure that we need, because right now it’s not sufficient,” he said. “In the areas where it is sufficient, it’s not at the kind of scale to get to all the guardians that we need.”

Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of Space Operations Command (SpOC), told reporters at a separate media roundtable that typical training for guardians involves training on the physical system itself and, in some cases, exercises conducted with simulations. However, those exercises are usually not able to accurately mimic the threats that the Space Force faces, he added.

“That’s typically white carded or a tabletop discussion — like, ‘What would you do if now there was a red threat that came up against you?’ There’s some value in all of that. We try to squeeze out as much learning as we can, but certainly that is not where we want to be,” Whiting said.

Instead, the Space Force wants to leverage offline, simulated systems that use physics-based models to emulate the tools, environments and adversaries a guardian might encounter in a real-life battle scenario, he said.

The Space Force is requesting $340 million in its fiscal 2024 budget proposal to bolster its training capabilities. Saltzman said the service is looking to improve technology like high-fidelity simulators that give guardians reps and sets for their tactics, and range environments that can simulate adversaries and threat environments.

“That’s where we’re doubling down on the investments to really robust that out and be able to produce that at scale so all guardians have access to advanced training, get the skills on the valid tactics to be successful in a threat environment,” Saltzman said.

Whiting also noted that because the space domain is thoroughly modeled in simulations by those that build the Space Force’s platforms, the service should be able to accurately mimic the threat environment.

However, “we’ve struggled to get that done, and a lot of folks are working hard on that — including STARCOM and Space Systems Command,” he added. “We’ve made some progress, but we just got to do better, and we owe our guardians and airmen a better training environment.”

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