Whiting declares Multinational Force – Operation OLYMPIC DEFENDER Initial Operational Capability, signs campaign plan

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Following the formal declaration of MNF-OOD IOC April 8, Gen. Stephen Whiting, MNF-OOD and U.S. Space command commander, signed the seven-nation space initiative’s first campaign plan during the Coordination Board Apr. 11, 2025.
 
Principals from member-nations Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and New Zealand convened to present the plan among a number of progress updates and initiatives.
 
“Our multinational force’s achievement of initial operational capability and a signed campaign plan represents a historic milestone in our shared space security and establishes a framework for interoperable combined space operations,” Whiting said. “Through strengthened partnerships, we build greater collective understanding of threats, a shared burden of space security, the ability to collectively shape norms of responsible behavior in space, and enhanced interoperability for combined space operations should they be needed in conflict.”
 
To support the IOC declaration, member nations certified five previously defined objectives had been met. These objectives included:
 

• Collective concepts of operations for Space Domain Awareness,
• A mutually agreed upon combined operational framework,
• A defined scope of national space input to the multinational force, and
• A synchronized and deconflicted means of reliable communications between nations enabled to convey national-level inputs to the multinational force authoritatively, and
• Campaign Plan development and approval.

The multinational space initiative represents a shared commitment among the closest partners in space to collectively deter aggression and ensure space remains a domain that benefits all of humanity. Originally established in 2013 under U.S. Strategic Command, OOD has expanded to a multinational effort that focuses to optimize space operations, improve mission assurance, enhance resilience of space-based systems, synchronize efforts to strengthen deterrence against hostile actors and reduce the spread of debris orbiting the Earth. New Zealand recently joined Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as the seventh member nation.
 
Media queries should be sent to U.S. Space Command Public Affairs Office at 719-554-3478 or usspacecom.pa.workflow@us.af.mil.