War Department unveils secure space network to lower barriers to classified defense work

The Department of War announced the Secure Space Network, a nationwide effort to widen access to classified work by designing, producing, and deploying approximately 50 mobile Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) and related information systems across the United States. The initiative is intended to bring more suppliers into classified development, collaboration, and production by expanding regional access to accredited secure workspaces.

Led by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment’s Office of Industrial Base Growth, the Secure Space Network will deliver rapidly deployable secure facilities that can be positioned at military installations, industry-focused sites such as APEX Accelerators, and other mission-relevant locations.

“We must make it easier for capable companies to contribute at every level of the mission. Industry has identified access to classified environments as a major barrier, and the Secure Space Network directly addresses that challenge by opening the door to classified work for more companies. With strong partnership across the agency and support from Congress, this effort will strengthen our supplier base and help deliver the capabilities our warfighters need faster and at greater scale,” said James R. Mismash, Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Growth and Director of the Office of Small Business Programs.

The initiative targets a longstanding obstacle for companies seeking to support national defense: a shortage of secure infrastructure for handling classified information. By making accredited environments available in more locations, the effort aims to broaden the pool of companies able to contribute capabilities, collaborate directly with government teams, and compete for classified work.

For many emerging and non-traditional suppliers, establishing fixed classified facilities can require significant time and investment. The Secure Space Network offers a scalable alternative, combining mobile units that can be rapidly deployed with fixed facilities that provide enduring collaboration capacity. The approach is intended to expand where government and authorized industry partners can conduct classified work, with the goal of growing a larger supplier base, improving transitions from unclassified engagement to classified development and production, and increasing competition.

The initial production phase is designed to create a repeatable pathway for expanding secure infrastructure as national and industrial requirements evolve. The program will also build scalable production capacity for the mobile units, providing surge capability to increase accredited workspace across the industrial base. By complementing traditional facility construction, the model seeks to give the Department greater flexibility to position secure capabilities closer to emerging mission needs, suppliers, and technology development hubs.

The Secure Space Network advances Acquisition Transformation by employing an agile, iterative approach in partnership with the Space Development Agency. Expanding access to secure infrastructure is intended to enable broader supplier participation in classified work, strengthen competition, and grow the industrial base to deliver capability to the warfighter faster.