Committee members asked about the Space Force's commercial space strategy and whether the service has the authorities and culture to leverage commercial capabilities. Major General Steven Purdy, acting assistant secretary for the Air Force (Space Acquisition and Integration), and Secretary Duffy both described active steps to integrate commercial providers and broaden the industrial base.

Purdy said the Space Force has increased use of other transaction authorities and other streamlined contract mechanisms and that commercial companies are "now starting to bid on multiple different activities." He referenced programs such as the GPS replacement and launch procurements as places where commercial companies have entered DOD competitions. Purdy said, "It's a culture change that has to occur across the entire organization from the requirements to the acquirers to the ops acceptance testing."

Witnesses told the committee that OTAs, middle-tier acquisitions and prize or cooperative development constructs can produce multiple winners and help build resilience and supplier diversity in space. Committee members asked for examples of success; witnesses cited DIU-enabled efforts, space launch initiatives and growing commercial participation in the Space Development Agency and GPS follow-on efforts. DOD officials stressed the Speed Act and internal changes are intended to reduce the compliance culture and enable faster commercial integration.

Ending: DOD and Space Force officials committed to continued implementation steps and to provide the committee with additional program-level details and assessments of where commercial integration is showing results.