SSC is the U.S. Space Force's organization for development and acquisitions, and opened COSMIC in a partnership with Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation , and in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory's Air Force Office of Scientific Research.COSMIC's debut comes amidst an ongoing shift in strategy at SSC, as they begin to pivot from developing their own technologies to strengthening partnerships with private companies.
USSF Col. Rich Kniseley serves as Senior Material Leader, and runs COMSIC. Kniseley said that COSMIC provides"a place and means for us all to get together and best collaborate on commercial space capabilities, warfighter requirements, and how to best deliver those capabilities." Indeed, unlike SSC, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, COSMIC's northern Virginia locale puts it just outside the borders of Washington, D.C., and close to several government intelligence agencies and commercial space company offices."The National Capital Region is a sweet spot for connecting with government agencies in the intelligence community as well as with key space agencies such as NASA and the Space Development Agency," Kniseley said.