Tag: Space Command

Australian Military Could Develop Joint Space Command

Article by Andrew Tillett                                         March 31, 2021                                         (afr.com)

• In an interview marking the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force, Chief of Air Force Mel Hupfeld said he was working on a review, due at the end of the year, on how the military embraces space. Hupfeld said that the growing militarization of space poses threats to satellites that are essential to everyday life as well as national security. “We are developing space domain capabilities to ensure our access to space,” said Hupfeld. “Space is a war-fighting domain but we’re not going to militarize space.”

• Under Hupfeld’s vision, Australia’s answer to the US Space Force would be a “space command” – bringing together officers from the air force, army and navy under an integrated command.

• A component of space control is ‘space domain awareness’. Australia’s military defense force would need to build an operational understanding of the space environment to determine if space assets are under threat, being attacked, or subjected to accidental interference or natural phenomena, and to develop capabilities to have a measure of space control to be able to move vehicles and satellites, and to avoid debris and threats in space.

• Last December, Hupfeld joined international colleagues to condemn a Russian anti-satellite missile test, which was viewed as ‘destabilizing’. “Everyone has the right to operate in international seas and air and space,” says Hupfeld. “What we will be looking to do is if there is someone who doesn’t follow international norms, is point it out and hold their behavior to account.”

• Early in March, the Royal Australian Air Force conducted joint drills with the Australian Navy’s destroyer, HMAS Hobart, which included the RAAF’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet for the first time. Chief Hupfeld rejected the criticism that the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter jet has received lately from the United State’s own House Armed Services Committee about the aircraft’s performance, delays and costs. Hupfeld said it would be foolish not to consider advances in technology and the changing strategic circumstances when weighing whether the RAAF would order additional aircraft beyond the 72 F-35s to which it has committed. “This approach with the F-35A and our other capabilities allows us to maintain our technological edge against rapid military advances in the region,” Hupfeld said.

 

Australia could launch a specialist “space command” bringing together officers from the air

    Chief of Aussie Air Force Mel Hupfeld

force, army and navy, as the growing militarisation of space poses threats to satellites that are essential to everyday life as well as national security.

In an interview marking the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force, Chief of Air Force Mel Hupfeld also rejected criticism of its main weapon, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, saying its true potency remained top secret.

“I would argue very strongly that some of our more speculative commentators don’t have access to the specifications and capabilities and likely haven’t even sat, and certainly not been in control of a fighter aircraft during complex training missions, nor combat,” Air Marshal

                 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

Hupfeld said.

He said he was working on a review, due at the end of the year, on how the military embraces space.

While the Trump administration established a standalone US Space Force, Air Marshal Hupfeld downplayed the idea that Australia would follow suit.

One option could be for members of the three branches of the military and the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation to come together under an integrated command.

“Space is a war-fighting domain but we’re not going to militarise space,” Air Marshal Hupfeld said.

“We are developing space domain capabilities to ensure our access to space.

“As a component of space control, space domain awareness allows Defence to build an operational understanding of the space environment to determine if space assets are under threat, being attacked, or subjected to accidental interference or natural phenomena.”

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UFO Conspiracy Theorists See Space Force as Evidence

by Melanie Poteat                   February 9, 2019                   (techstockstandard.com)

• On December 18, 2018, President Trump signed an order to establish a Space Command to oversee the military’s vast operations beyond the Earth’s atmosphere in defending American assets in space, such as satellites, and fending off cyberattacks. The US Space Command would be organized as an adjunct to the Air Force. This seemed to be a compromise to Trump’s initial effort to create a separate sixth branch of the armed services. But the Pentagon prefers to keep space operations within the Air Force.

• The idea of a separate Space Force has some believing that this is a step toward the government’s acknowledgment of extraterrestrials and technology gleaned from crashed alien spacecraft — what the UFO community calls “full disclosure.” But it also pits Trump against his natural enemy: the “Deep State” within the federal government which is the keeper of alien secrets, according to UFO researchers.

• Well known author, Michael Salla, noted that Pentagon top brass oppose the establishment of a sixth branch of the military to patrol above the atmosphere. “It is important to understand that by ordering the creation of a , is shaking the bureaucratic and corporate tree that hides the Secret Space Program that the Air Force runs along with the National Reconnaissance Office, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency,” Salla posted on his ExoPolitics website. “Large aerospace companies such as , Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, etc., supply the technologies and components for the Air Force’s Secret Space Program. Consequently, the Military Industrial Complex/Deep State has played a major role in setting space policy due to its ability to manipulate Air Force officials through the supply and acquisition process.”

• Disclosure filmmaker, Jordan Sather, tweeted last summer that the Pentagon would not want a separate Space Force. “This is HUGE and something the Deep State does NOT want,” said Sather. An independent Space Force would provide an avenue for the public release of advanced technologies such as free energy and anti-gravity.

• There is abundant evidence that the Pentagon already has top-secret operations in space, such as advanced craft and spy satellites. Jan C. Harzan, executive director of MUFON, claims that the Air Force’s unmanned X-37B space plane has “been up there two years at a time doing classified missions.” The X-37B, basically a space drone that resembles a small version of NASA’s retired space shuttles. It has flown clandestine missions in Earth orbit since 2010. Mr. Harzan doubts the government was getting closer to “full disclosure” of what he believes the government hides about aliens. “I do believe that we have technology which has been reverse-engineered from aircraft that are not from here and that we are probably using that technology someplace. But are we trolling out amongst the stars like ‘Star Trek’ or something else? I don’t know that it has gotten that far,” Harzan said.

 

President ’s order to create a military gave conspiracy theorists another tantalizing piece of evidence — some say the best yet — that the government is hiding the truth about extraterrestrial visitors.

The idea is that launching the will be a big step toward the government’s acknowledgment of extraterrestrials and technology gleaned from crashed alien spacecraft — what the UFO community calls “full disclosure.”

Making it all the more real, the plan pits against his natural enemy: the “deep state” within the federal government. The deep state is also the keeper of alien secrets, according to UFO researchers.

“This is HUGE and something the Deep State does NOT want,” conspiracy theory filmmaker Jordan Sather posted on Twitter after issued the surprise June 18 order for the Pentagon to start planning a .

“Understand that with the #SpaceForce, the advanced technologies (free energy, antigravity) kept in secret think-tanks within , , & other corporate contractors will now have an avenue to be released publicly,” Mr. Sather tweeted.

Michael Salla, an author who promotes theories about secret U.S. space programs and longtime extraterrestrial presence on Earth, noted that Pentagon top brass oppose the establishment of a sixth branch of the military to patrol above the atmosphere.

“It is important to understand that by ordering the creation of a , is shaking the bureaucratic and corporate tree that hides the Secret Space Program that the Air Force runs along with the National Reconnaissance Office, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency,” he posted on his ExoPolitics website.

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Are the U.S. Space Forces Starting to Muster?

by John Breeden II                 October 2, 2018                   (nextgov.com)

• With all of the proposals for space-based operations being bandied about in Washington D.C., who is doing what in space?

• Space Force – A entirely new and separate branch of the U.S. military, proposed by President Trump. Such a specialized space force could maintain the current technological advantage that the United States may have over China and Russia. A recent proposal by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan called for a tight integration between the new Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office to gather intelligence using satellites. According to an Air Force memo, a new Space Force would initially require 13,000 new personnel and cost $13 billion over the next five years, including $2.2 billion in order to set up a headquarters and $7.2 billion for new assets and equipment.

• NASA – The U.S.’s “peaceful” space program, NASA has recently launched a new effort to search for extraterrestrial, intelligent life known as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

• Space Corps – The 2017 version of Trump’s Space Force that was included in the House of Representative’s fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, but was voted down in the Senate.

• Space Command – An alternative to the Space Corps, led by the U.S. Air Force, that would integrate space-based assets, such as military satellites, into the future operations of all branches of service through the development of a Multi-Domain Command and Control system. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is already developing a program called ‘Hallmark’ that will provide better situational awareness in space, especially in the lower Earth orbit zones, which are cluttered with everything from satellites to space junk.

• Strategic Support Force – The Chinese operations center that manages its space program, cyberspace and electronic warfare.

• [Editor’s Note] Here are some past ExoNews articles on President Trump’s Space Force:
House Panel Lays Foundation for Future Space Force  May 14, 2018
Trump Directs DOD to Establish a Space Force in a Surprise Announcement  Jun 18, 2018
Pence Details Plan for Creation of Space Force in What Would Be the Sixth Branch of the Military  August 9, 2018
New Pentagon Memo Lays Out Action Plan to Establish Space Force by 2020  September 13, 2018

 

When President Donald Trump proposed creating the Space Force as a separate branch of the military, quite a few people ended up scratching their heads. While it would be cool to have a bunch of sleek spaceships like in Star Trek, the sad truth is that we are probably decades or even centuries away from anything close to technology like that, if we ever get there at all. Looked at pessimistically, we would get about as much value out of creating a military branch of time travelers, let’s call them Paladins of the Past, charged with protecting our history from temporal manipulation. It might make for great sci-fi but would not offer much practical value.

We also already have the most advanced, peaceful space program in the world through NASA. Just this spring they launched TESS, the short name for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which is bristling with artificial intelligence designed to optimize the search for extraterrestrial, intelligent life. Nobody else is even close to something like TESS.

But NASA works on peaceful projects, and the idea of a militarized space force has been kicked around Washington for a while. The House included such a provision in the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, calling the new military branch the “Space Corps.” That idea died in the Senate, though the Defense Department was asked to study the issue.

Trump’s support has given the idea new life, and the Air Force was asked to take the lead on proposing what an independent space command might look like. Previously, the Air Force’s focus was on integrating space-based assets, such as military satellites, into the future operations of all branches of service. They have been working on developing a Multi-Domain Command and Control system which would accomplish that.

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New Pentagon Memo Lays Out Action Plan to Establish Space Force by 2020

by Sandra Erwin                     September 13, 2018                   (spacenews.com)

• A September 10th memo issued by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan entitled “Space Reorganization and Management Tasks” outlines a detailed plan of action to be taken to establish Space Force as the sixth independent branch of the United States military by the year 2020.

• The first order of business is to establish a ‘Space Command’ and the subordinate unified command by the end of 2018. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood are responsible for leading this effort.

• Next, the DOD will establish a Space Development Agency, led by Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. This agency “will initially focus on rapidly developing and fielding new space capabilities that leverage commercial space technology and access in support of warfighter and U.S. Space Command… consolidating space development efforts under the SDA as the equipping arm for the space warfighter, with an initial operating capacity in calendar year 2019”.

• A “Space Operations Forces” office will be set up to “produce a complete inventory of all forces and functions conducting or directly supporting space operations and designating space operations forces.”

• A new office of “Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space” will be established to consolidate civilian oversight of space and outline how it could evolve into the future headquarters of the Space Force.

• The Pentagon’s director of cost assessment and program evaluation will develop a five-year cost estimate. The memo says the budget should include the cost for the Space Force, the Space Development Agency, the Space Operations Forces, U.S. Space Command and the path for transferring space budgets to the Space Force.

• The establishment of the Space Force as a military branch must be approved by Congress and written into legislation. These reorganization and management directives will ultimately be written into a legislative proposal.

• A “Space Governance Committee” led by Shanahan will have the final word on any reorganization action and on the legislative proposal before it goes to the White House. Shanahan’s orders have short deadlines. Many of the tasks are due in the coming weeks, and the legislative proposal could arrive at the White House as early as Dec. 1, 2018.

• The Air Force, which owns 90 percent of the military’s space programs and functions, will have only a limited support role in shaping the transition to the future Space Force.

• [Editor’s Note]  The President is taking the authority of space defense out of the hands of the Deep State controlled Air Force and into the hands of the Alliance-friendly Pentagon.

 

WASHINGTON — Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan this week issued a detailed plan for how the Pentagon will move forward to create a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces by fiscal year 2020.

The plan, laid out in a Sept. 10 memo titled “Space Reorganization and Management Tasks,” includes actions that the Pentagon will pursue using executive branch authorities — standing up a unified command for space, a Space Development Agency and Space Operations Forces. These proposals were presented to Congress in a report on Aug. 9. The establishment of the Space Force as a military branch must be approved by Congress and written into legislation. Shanahan’s Sept. 10 memo, a copy of which was obtained by SpaceNews, explains the steps DoD will take to develop a legislative proposal.

The memo makes it clear that the space reorganization is being led from the top down. Shanahan is overseeing the entire effort, but the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the undersecretary of defense for policy also have significant roles. The Air Force, which owns 90 percent of the military’s space programs and functions, only will have a limited support role in shaping the transition to a future Space Force.

The changes directed by Shanahan only apply to DoD and not to the intelligence community, even though organizations like the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency have key responsibilities in national security space. “Only DoD space functions would move into the Space Force,” the memo says. “National security space components outside of the DoD should not be included in the legislative or budget proposal, but will be considered in an interagency process.”
The Director of National Intelligence is cc’ed in the memo.

Shanahan’s orders have short deadlines. Many of the tasks are due in the coming weeks, and the legislative proposal could arrive at the White House as early as Dec. 1, 2018. To avert concerns that a new service will saddle the military with billions of dollars in added overhead costs, the memo says the Space Force should have a “lean” bureaucracy.

A “Space Governance Committee” led by Shanahan will have the final word on any reorganization action and on the legislative proposal before it goes to the White House. Shanahan also will establish and designate the leader of a “working group” to help with the implementation that will include representatives from all military branches and relevant DoD agencies.

Upcoming steps in the reorganization

The first order of business is to stand up U.S. Space Command, a unified combatant command responsible for space. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood are responsible for leading this effort. A U.S. Space Command “should be established by the end of calendar year 2018,” the memo says The Joint Staff will draft an amendment to the Unified Command Plan to establish U.S. Space Command and the subordinate unified command, and a detailed plan will be developed to “transfer requisite authorities and capabilities.” Rood and Dunford will be responsible for “identifying any operational authorities that are needed for U.S. Space Command.”

The creation of a Space Development Agency also could happen relatively soon. Shanahan directs Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to “each develop a concept for establishing the SDA.” The draft concepts are due to the governing committee by Sept 14.

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