JICSpOC renamed National Space Defense Center

The head of U.S. Strategic Command announced today the Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center has been renamed the National Space Defense Center, effective April 1.

"In coordination with our partners and to eliminate confusion, we have decided to rename the JICSpOC to better describe its actual purpose," Gen. John Hyten told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing today.

The JICSpOC, considered the first organizational instantiation of the Third Offset strategy, was established to unify collaboration and experimentation between DOD and the intelligence community.

The DOD declared initial operational capability for the center in November and expects to achieve full operations in 2018.