Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will take over space adviser responsibilities previously assigned to the secretary of the U.S. Air Force on an interim basis, SpaceNews reported Thursday.
The report said he will also be in charge of the military space portfolio that was also previously managed by the Air Force secretary.
Shanahan listed modifications to the organizational and management process for the national security space enterprise in a memorandum, titled “Guidance for Increasing Lethality and Warfighting Readiness in Space,” which he sent to Defense Department civilian and military leaders.
In the memo, he instructed the head of the Air Force Space Command to act as a joint functional component commander within the Strategic Command.
He also called for the transition of the National Space Defense Center to a functioning command center that will aid joint and interagency space capacities.
Shanahan plans to enlist a federally funded think tank to study the advantages and disadvantages of having an individual military department in charge of DoD national security space efforts, the report added.
