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Military Leaders Provide Insight Into the Re-Established US Space Command

May 22, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Amanda Miller May 8, 2021 (airforcemag.com)

• On May 7th, several of the newest top officials in the U.S. Space Command appeared during a Space Foundation virtual ‘Symposium365’ talk. The members of Space Command, which was re-established 19 months ago and whose geographic area of responsibility starts 100 kilometers above the surface of the Earth, intentionally come from diverse backgrounds. Only a few come from Space Force – so far.

• Army General James H. Dickinson leads U.S. Space Command from its provisional headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, although the Department of the Air Force may ultimately choose to select Redstone Arsenal, Alabama as U.S. Space Command’s permanent home. Either way, more partner organizations will be “coming to work” over the next 12 to 18 months. “[O]ne of our strongest deterrence capabilities…within the command is that strong allied and partner integration that we have,” said Dickinson, whose background is in missile defense. “So our ability to be able to capture that energy and start bringing those folks into the command itself is very powerful.”

• One way the U.S. Space Command tries to expand the pool of international partners is by inviting countries to take part in the space situational awareness exercise under ‘Global Sentinel’. Ten partners including the U.S. took part in the last Global Sentinel in 2019. Invitations to participate in Global Sentinel serve “as a lead-in to signing space situational awareness agreements with these partner nations,” says Space Force Colonel Devin R. Pepper, deputy director of U.S. Space Command’s Strategy, Plans, and Policy Directorate and garrison commander of soon-to-be Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado. Chile and Poland are the newest partner nation prospects.

• Air Force Maj. Gen. William G. Holt II spent his career as a special operations pilot before becoming U.S. Space Command’s director of operations, training, and force development. He characterized the command’s makeup as an even mix of Air Force, Army and Navy backgrounds, with a “handful of Marines”. Holt credited Space Force Chief of Space of Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond with the level of ‘jointness’ intended “to change the dynamic and really bring in a warfighting … viewpoint from across the force. “[H]aving the different backgrounds as far as the different services, I think, was really critical to [Raymond] bringing me in.”

• The Space Command is looking ahead to when the military will want to operate beyond Earth orbit. “More and more nations are operating in space,” said the U.S. Space Command’s senior enlisted leader, Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Scott H. Stalker. He cited the United Arab Emirates’ Hope Mars Mission satellite orbiting the red planet as “the first planetary science mission led by an Arab Islamic country.” Stalker, formerly with the DIA and U.S. Cyber Command, acknowledged that, “We are no longer the undisputed leaders in space.”

• U.S. Space Command’s Deputy Director of Intelligence Sean M. Kirkpatrick said, “We’ve got a huge Moon competition going on. We’ve got a Mars competition going on… We are going to have to extend our mission space to the cislunar, lunar, and Martian orbits and regimes at some point in the not-too-distant future.” To gather intelligence in deep space, the US needs to take advantage of space technology that the commercial sector will provide. “The customary five to ten-year time frame for a defense acquisition program would take too long.”

• Army Brig. Gen. Thomas L. James served in Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s when GPS was brand new and unreliable. “The way they operated then— because it was only a partial (communications satellite) constellation — is some of the time, you knew where you were with great precision. Some of the time, you knew that you didn’t know where you were at all based off of the GPS. And some of the time, you thought you might know where you are.” Today, General James is “passionate” about having space itself as a resource.

Special-ops aviators, a physicist from the intelligence community, and an enlisted Marine with decades of deployments: U.S. Space Command’s military and civilian leaders who spoke May 7 were as likely to come from strictly space backgrounds as not.

Several of the newest combatant command’s top officials appeared during a Space Foundation virtual Symposium365 talk. They indicated that their diverse backgrounds are by design and that few Space Force personnel are yet a part.

Some of the day’s insights from inside the command, which was re-established 19 months ago and whose geographic area of responsibility starts 100 kilometers above the surface of the Earth:

More Partners, More Deterrence

Army Gen. James H. Dickinson leads U.S. Space Command from its provisional headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. He said more allied and partner organizations will be “physically coming to work” at Peterson over the next 12 to 18 months and he sees “that energy expanding.”

“When I look at deterrence, one of our strongest deterrence capabilities, or measures, within the command is that strong allied and partner integration that we have,” said Dickinson, whose background is in missile defense. “We are starting to see a lot more allies that want to be … part of the space enterprise, want to work with U.S. Space Command,” he said. “So our ability to be able to capture that energy and start bringing those folks into the command itself is very powerful.”

The Department of the Air Force selected Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, as U.S. Space Command’s permanent home pending an environmental review, though the selection is under review.

One way U.S. Space Command tries to expand the pool of international partners is

**Master Gunnery Sgt. Scott H. Stalker**

by inviting countries to take part in the Global Sentinel exercise in space situational awareness started by U.S. Strategic Command, said Space Force Col. Devin R. Pepper, deputy director of U.S. Space Command’s Strategy, Plans, and Policy Directorate and garrison commander of “soon-to-be Buckley Space Force Base” in Colorado. Pepper was nominated to be a brigadier general in January.

Ten partners including the U.S. took part in the last Global Sentinel in 2019. Pepper mentioned Chile and Poland as prospects. He said the invitations serve “as a lead-in to

signing space situational awareness agreements with these partner nations.”

Warfighting Dynamic

Air Force Maj. Gen. William G. Holt II said he “didn’t have much experience with the space domain” before becoming U.S. Space Command’s director of operations, training, and force

development.

A career special operations pilot, he characterized the command’s makeup as “actually very joint” and “kind of an even mix of Air Force background, Army background, Navy background—we have a handful of Marines, including our director of our cyber operations is a Marine one-star—and then, actually, not a whole lot of Space Force officers at this point in time,” Holt said.
Holt credited Space Force Chief of Space of Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond with the level of jointness intended “to change the dynamic and really bring in a warfighting … viewpoint from across the force.

“I’m not saying that the old Air Force Space Command wasn’t warfighters, because they absolutely did that every day—they supported us; they deployed downrange—but having the different backgrounds as far as the different services, I think, was really critical to [Raymond] bringing me in.”

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SpaceX Endeavor Has Close Call With UFO

May 9, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Kenneth Garger April 25, 2021 (nypost.com)

• On April 24th, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavor spacecraft blasted off to rendezvous with the International Space Station. But as they approached the space station, US Space Command warned the crew of a possible collision with an unknown object. (see 8 second video below)

• “[T]here wasn’t time to compute and execute a debris avoidance maneuver with confidence, so the SpaceX team elected to have the crew don their pressure suits out of an abundance of caution,” said NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries.

• The object ultimately passed about 28 miles from the spacecraft. Crew Dragon Endeavour made it to the International Space Station and “there was no real danger to the crew or the spacecraft,” assured Humphries.

**SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavor capsule**

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavor spacecraft had a close call with an unidentified

object before reaching the International Space Station, a report said.

US Space Command warned the crew aboard the spacecraft of a possible collision with an unknown object after launching into orbit on Friday, Futurism reported.

“The possibility of the conjunction came so close to the closest approach time that there wasn’t time to compute and execute a debris

**Endeavor approaching the International Space Station**

avoidance maneuver with confidence, so the SpaceX team elected to have the crew don their pressure suits out of an abundance of caution,” NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries told Futurism.

At its closest point, the object passed about 28 miles away from the spacecraft, the report said.

Ultimately, “there was no real danger to the crew or the spacecraft,” Humphries told the outlet.

Crew Dragon Endeavour made it to the International Space Station on Saturday.

8 second video of object streaking past the Space X capsule (‘Rohan Tom’ YouTube)

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Russia and China Trying to Tie America’s Hands in Space

April 13, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Bradley Bowman and Jared Thompson March 31, 2021 (foreignpolicy.com)

• China and Russia have sprinted to develop and deploy both ground-based and space-based weapons targeting satellites while simultaneously pushing the United States to sign a treaty banning such weapons. Washington should avoid being drawn into international treaties on space that China and Russia have no intention of honoring.

• The Treaty on the ‘Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects’ (PPWT), which Beijing and Moscow have submitted at the United Nations, is a perfect example. PPWT signatories commit “not to place any weapons in outer space.” It also says parties to the treaty may not “resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects” or engage in activities “inconsistent” with the purpose of the treaty.

• More than two years ago, the US Defense Intelligence Agency noted that both China and Russia were already developing space capabilities that could be used as weapons. The reality is that China and Russia are already racing to field anti-satellite weapons. “The space domain is competitive, congested, and contested,” said the head of US Space Command General James Dickinson. “Our competitors, most notably China and Russia, have militarized this domain.” The PPWT treaty would thus protect their weapons while tying Washington’s hands.

• China’s People’s Liberation Army units are already training with ground-based anti-satellite missiles capable of destroying satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit, where America’s most sensitive nuclear communication and missile defense satellites orbit. China has also tested several ‘scavenger satellites’ which can sidle up to other satellites and use grappling arms to capture the other satellite.

• In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin heralded a ground-based laser weapon designed to attack satellites. Last December, Moscow tested a ground-based anti-satellite weapon that could destroy satellites in orbit. Russia recently deployed a pair of “nesting doll” satellites where one Russian satellite actually ‘births’ another. The second satellite has the capability to fire what appears to be a space torpedo.

• Meanwhile, China and Russia are pushing the United Nations for a “no first placement” resolution in which no government should be the first to put weapons in space. In a thinly veiled attempt to mask their intentions, China and Russia claim that their on-orbit capabilities are simply for peaceful purposes — for assessing the condition of broken satellites and conducting repairs as needed. This “dual-use” disguise permits Beijing and Moscow to put into orbit ostensibly peaceful or commercial capabilities that can also be used to disable or destroy U.S. military and intelligence satellites.

• A typical space treaty clearly defines acceptable and unacceptable actions in space and includes inspection and verification mechanisms. But the PPWT treaty does not explicitly prohibit the ground-based anti-satellite weapons that China and Russia have already fielded. Nor does the proposed treaty prevent the deployment of space-based weapons under the cloak of civilian or commercial capabilities. The PPWT does not even prohibit the development, testing, or stockpiling of weapons on Earth that could be quickly put into orbit. Instead, the treaty calls for “transparency and confidence-building measures” implemented on a “voluntary basis.” In other words, Beijing and Moscow want the United States to trust but never verify.

• Moscow habitually seeks to use international arms control treaties to constrain the United States, while viewing treaty strictures as optional when they become inconvenient or when the Kremlin sees an opportunity to seize a military advantage. For more than a decade, Moscow used the ‘Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty’ to constrain the United States while the Kremlin produced, flight-tested, and fielded a ground-launched intermediate-range cruise missile in direct contravention of the treaty.

• Beijing usually avoids any type of international arms control treaties. The willingness of the Chinese Communist Party to support the PPWT is, therefore, cause for some additional reflection.

• Instead of falling prey to China and Russia’s PPWT trap, the United States must work with allies to improve the resilience and redundancy of spaced-based military and intelligence capabilities. “There are really no norms of behavior in space,” said General John Raymond, chief of space operations at US Space Force. “It’s the wild, wild West.”

• In December, the U.N. General Assembly passed a British-introduced resolution that seeks to establish “norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviors” in space, which could reduce the chances for dangerous miscalculation. The vote was 164 in favor, 12 opposed. Those opposing this resolution included China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Saying one thing and doing the opposite is, unfortunately, common in international

diplomacy. Beijing and Moscow, however, seem to have a unique proclivity for the practice.

Consider the actions of the United States’ two great-power adversaries when it comes to anti-satellite weapons. China and Russia have sprinted to develop and deploy both ground-based and space-based weapons targeting satellites while simultaneously pushing the United States to sign a treaty banning such weapons.

To protect its vital space-based military capabilities—including communications, intelligence, and missile defense satellites—and effectively deter authoritarian aggression, Washington should avoid being drawn into suspect international treaties on space that China and Russia have no intention of honoring.

The Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (PPWT), which Beijing and Moscow have submitted at the United Nations, is a perfect example. PPWT signatories commit “not to place any weapons in outer space.” It also says parties to the treaty may not “resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects” or engage in activities “inconsistent” with the purpose of the treaty.

**China’s PLA training with anti-satellite weapon**

On the surface, that sounds innocuous. Who, after all, wants an arms race in space?

The reality, however, is that China and Russia are already racing to field anti-satellite weapons and have been for quite some time. “The space domain is competitive, congested, and contested,” Gen. James Dickinson, the head of U.S. Space Command, said in January. “Our competitors, most notably China and Russia, have militarized this domain.”

Beijing already has an operational ground-based anti-satellite missile capability. People’s Liberation Army units are training with the missiles, and the U.S. Defense Department believes Beijing “probably intends to pursue additional [anti-satellite] weapons capable of destroying satellites up to geosynchronous Earth orbit.” That is where America’s most sensitive nuclear communication and missile defense satellites orbit and keep watch.

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New Paper Reveals How UK is Making Plans for War in Space

April 9, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Kit Klarenberg March 25, 2021 (rt.com)

• In 1997, the US Space Command’s ‘Vision for 2020’ forecast that space power would evolve into a “medium of warfare” during “the early portion of the 21st century”. Washington being able to “control” and “dominate” space in order to “deny other nations access”, was considered a top priority. Barack Obama escalated deployments of ‘first-strike’ missile defense systems encircling Russia and China in range to strike ground stations that communicate with orbiting military satellites. In March 2018, Donald Trump broached the creation of a ‘Space Force’, and in August 2018 the US’s 2019 National Defense Authorization Act repeatedly referenced “space warfighting operations” and plans to create a “unified command for space” under US Strategic Command.

• Now the UK wants to get in on the action. On March 22, the UK government published its ‘Defence Command Paper 2021’, outlining London’s grand vision for its “role in the world over the next decade” in respect of military and intelligence capabilities and operations. “Space, and our assured access to it, is fundamental to military operations,” the paper reads. “We must develop military, civilian and commercial capabilities that are resilient to and protected from space threats. We must also help shape an international environment of behaviours and operating norms that deters adversaries.”

• By 2030, the UK intends to have “the ability to monitor, protect and defend” its interests “in and through space”. Over the next 10 years, a total of £5 billion will be invested in Skynet, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) network of military communications satellites, which supports the Five Eyes global spying apparatus. £1.4 billion will be spent establishing a dedicated space command, launch a National Space Operations Centre, develop an “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellite constellation”, and create a “Space Academy” to train Britain’s new army of “space specialists”.

• In May 2020, then-MoD Permanent Secretary Sir Stephen Lovegrove told a parliamentary committee that space was “now recognized as a warfighting domain.” The Defence Command Paper states that UK military and intelligence capabilities will from now on be fully integrated across “space, cyberspace, maritime, land and air”. By August of 2020, Royal Air Force officers began training at the US Space Command’s Space Defense Operations Center in California.

• Defence Secretary Ben Wallace consistently frames UK space-combat capacity as inherently defensive in nature. But in April 2019, a mysterious aircraft crash-landed in the West Australian outback. It was revealed to be a state-of-the-art experimental solar-powered surveillance drone, produced by aerospace firm Airbus for the MoD. The craft has a 25m wingspan and is capable of flying unmanned at a height of over 65,000 feet – twice the altitude of a commercial airliner, at the very edge of space.

• China and Russia have repeatedly presented draft treaties to the United Nations calling for a ban on the deployment of conventional weapons in space, and a prohibition on the use of force in and from space and against spacecraft. Despite being supported by an overwhelming number of UN member states, the proposals were consistently rebuffed by Washington.

• The UK’s updated defense priorities are Britain’s own contribution to this determined push to transform space into a dangerous battleground. By Ben Wallace’s own admission, there is “limited international agreement on norms and conventions” relating to the regulation of space technology, combined with “a lack of ethical standards to encourage their responsible use”. A cynic might suggest that, in fact, Whitehall intends to exploit these regulatory and moral shortfalls to its own advantage.

Space battles are the stuff of science fiction, but recent technological and political

developments have done much to make the prospect an ever more likely reality – and it’s clear the UK wants to get in on the action.

On March 22, the UK government published its Defence Command Paper 2021, a 76-page document offering further clarity on the previous week’s Integrated Review, which outlined London’s grand vision for its “role in the world over the next decade” in respect of military and intelligence capabilities and operations.

An accompanying foreword authored by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace – former British Army soldier and director of military technology firm QinetiQ, who has previously condoned torture – spells out the paper’s disturbing dimensions in some detail.

Strikingly, it contained dozens of references to space in a military context. The heavens were said to be of growing significance as an operational and “warfighting” domain – a dedicated section describing Whitehall’s plans to secure dominance in the sphere.

“Space, and our assured access to it, is fundamental to military operations. Loss of, or disruption to, the space domain could severely impact our ability to undertake most defence tasks,” it read. “We must develop military, civilian and commercial capabilities that are resilient to and protected from space threats. We must also help shape an international environment of behaviours and operating norms that deters adversaries.”

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First Air Force to Serve as Air Component to US Space Command

March 29, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Douglas Clark March 15, 2021 (homelandprepnews.com)

• Air Force officials have named First Air Force to serve as the future air component to the US Space Command. USSPACECOM commander, US Army General James Dickinson, welcomed First Air Force to the joint Space Command team.

• Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. said that First Air Force was the natural choice to serve as Air Force component to the US Space Command. “In this new role, First Air Force will be better able to identify and address gaps and seams when integrating spacepower into the support of the homeland defense mission,” General Brown said. “This will also inform efforts to better fuse space operations into air operations centers around the globe.”

• First Air Force will continue to provide uninterrupted air component support to North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command, in addition to exercising command and control over Air Force forces supporting US Space Command. Air Combat Command will organize, train, and equip First Air Force for the new role. The new air component is currently expected to achieve initial operating capability by the end of 2021.

Air Force officials have named First Air Force to serve as the future air component to

U.S. Space Command.

“The U.S. Air Force is a critical contributor to the U.S. Space Command mission as evidenced by their support to Human Space Flight,” U.S. Army Gen. James Dickinson, USSPACECOM commander, said. “We welcome First Air Force to our joint team.”

First Air Force is slated to continue providing uninterrupted air component support to North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, officials said, in addition to exercising command and control over Air Force forces supporting U.S. Space Command.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. said First Air Force was the natural choice to serve as Air Force component to U.S. Space Command.

“In this new role, First Air Force will be better able to identify and address gaps and seams when integrating spacepower into the support of the homeland defense mission,” he said. “This will also inform efforts to better fuse space operations into air operations centers around the globe.”

Air Combat Command plans how to organize, train, and equip First Air Force for the new role. The new air component is currently expected to achieve initial operating capability by the end of the 2021 calendar year.

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International Effort to Set Rules of Behavior in Space

March 10, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Sandra Erwin February 24, 2021 (spacenews.com)

• The commander of the US Space Command, Major General DeAnna Burt (pictured above) says that international momentum is building for the adoption of a binding set of rules to make space safer and sustainable. A December 2020 UN resolution proposed by the UK will focus on a set of rules curtailing irresponsible or potentially threatening activities in space, and on reducing the risks of misunderstandings and miscalculations. The United States and allies including Canada, France, Germany Australia and New Zealand are now drafting language for the rules and the US Space Command is taking a central role. The UN has asked countries to submit input by May 3rd.

• This effort comes amid growing alarm about Russia’s anti-satellite weapon tests and concerns that the proliferation of satellites and debris is rapidly cluttering Earth orbit. US Space Command has grown especially mistrustful of Russia following recent tests of weapons that could be used to target satellites in low Earth orbit. In 2020 Russia tested two direct-ascent weapons. It also tested a co-orbital system that the United States claims was aimed at a US intelligence satellite.

• The 1967 Outer Space Treaty remains the basis for international space law but experts say the treaty has become outdated. For example, it bans the use of weapons of mass destruction in space but countries now deploy dual-use spacecraft that can be used for peaceful and military purposes.

• For decades there have been calls for the UN and other organizations to figure out a way to deter these types of activities and move forward as more nations engage in space operations. “[W]e want to see something that is binding. …The problem with previous UN resolutions is that they were non-binding”, said Burt. “We’re going to prepare what we believe will be proposal language that will go to the UN and hopefully result in a binding resolution,” she said. “[I]t’s going to be something we can all agree to.”

• It’s not just the U.S. and allied governments that care about this, said Burt. Private satellite owners and operators from many nations “have a vested interest in keeping the domain safe, sustainable and free for all to use,” says Burt. “There’s been a lot of (global) exploration over hundreds of years and we’ve established norms that become laws about the rules of the sea” under a long-standing maritime domain model. “How we operate in the space domain needs very similar kinds of customs and processes.” Any agreement has to clearly define what constitutes threatening, hostile or irresponsible behavior, Burt said. Based on that, a nation could decide if a particular action in space constitutes an act of war or if it can be handled through diplomatic or economic sanctions.

• Over the past decade, China and Russia have floated treaty proposals to ban weapons in space, but the United States has rejected them as unacceptable. The U.S. is not calling for a ban on specific weapons, Burt said. “The Chinese and the Russians have already put weapons in space. So I think we’re way past having a conversation about regulating them per se, which is why we focus on norms of behavior.” With regard to anti-satellite weapons, “I don’t think you can you can put that genie back in the bottle.”

• With more nations now involved in space, there are concerns beyond the use of weapons, such as safety of flight so that satellites do not collide with each other, said Burt, who spent 28 years in the U.S. Air Force operating satellites. Safety concerns will only grow as more humans start going to space, she added. Any international agreement also should hold accountable actors who create long-term debris. “That is something that we see is one of the biggest concerns,” she said. “We need to define what is long-term debris but a clear example is China’s 2007 anti-satellite test. We are still tracking debris from 2007.”

• Awareness of what other countries are doing will help attribute actions, said Burt. In instances when someone threatens a U.S. satellite, ideally “we want to show a picture … and share that on the national news” the same way the Air Force shows videos of aerial bombing campaigns. Most U.S. intelligence about the space domain is classified, however. Burt said U.S. Space Command leaders are working with the intelligence community to “declassify things we need to talk about to the American people.”

WASHINGTON — The United States and allies are drafting language in support of an international effort to adopt rules of behavior in space, U.S. Space Command’s Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt told SpaceNews.

Burt is the commander of U.S. Space Command’s combined force space component at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. She said international momentum is building for the adoption of a binding set of rules to make space safer and sustainable.

U.S. Space Command is taking a central role in this effort amid growing alarm about Russia’s anti-satellite weapon tests and concerns that the proliferation of satellites and debris is rapidly cluttering Earth orbit.

Burt said a team of Defense and State Department officials is drafting language on the U.S. position on a resolution approved in December by the United Nations General Assembly which calls for “norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviors” in space. The UN has asked countries to submit input by May 3 for inclusion in a report to be reviewed by the UN General Assembly this summer.

The problem with previous UN resolutions is that they were non binding, said Burt. “We’re going to prepare what we believe will be proposal language that will go to the UN and hopefully result in a binding resolution,” she said. “There’s a lot of good work happening on the international stage.”

For decades there have been calls for the UN and other organizations to figure out a way forward as more nations engage in space operations. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty remains the basis for international space law but experts say the treaty has become outdated. For example, it bans the use of weapons of mass destruction in space but countries now deploy dual-use spacecraft that can be used for peaceful and military purposes.

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New SPACECOM Strategy Warns US Adversaries

February 21, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Rachel S. Cohen February 1, 2021 (airforcemag.com)

• In August 2019, the US Space Command, or ‘SPACECOM’, was revived after being disbanded for 17 years, integrating its work with the other combatant commands that rely on and defend space assets. During a recent AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event, SPACECOM boss Gen. James H. Dickinson said that the US Space Command must “sustain a warfighting culture and adapt to a dynamic and changing strategic environment,” drawing upon the experience of the other armed forces.

• On February 1st, SPACECOM released a new strategy paper that broadly outlines goals for training, partnerships, and cybersecurity. But in a future with “increasingly capable competitors” and a “long-term security threat” posed by Russia and China, the paper also warns that the United States will hit back if its satellites, radars, and other space systems are endangered.

• As America and its allies expand their space economies and look to permanently return to the Moon, “[the] United States Space Command will always remain ready to prevail against any foreign space-related aggression” reads the strategy paper. “By developing…counter-space capabilities and…military doctrines to extend into space, our [Russian and Chinese] competitors seek to prevent our unfettered access to space and deny our freedom to operate in space.”

• The US military argues it needs to bolster its offense and defense in space to protect the satellites and radars that enable GPS guidance, ATMs, ballistic missile warning, and more. SPACECOM also uses those assets to direct weapons and troops, send information around the world, and collect intelligence—making them targets for those who want to disrupt American military operations.

• Brian Weeden, a director at the Secure World Foundation, says that the 12-page paper, comprised largely of pictures, lacks the detail of previous Pentagon strategy papers. “It reads more like an ad brochure full of chest-thumping assertions than a serious strategic document,” quipped Weeden.

• Weeden recognizes that the military may not be comfortable with publicly discussing developing space operations, and that the fact that there haven’t been any actual space battles, would explain the lack of sophistication for space doctrine relative to the other combat domains.

• Dickinson maintains that job one for SPACECOM is to attract the kind of veteran military talent who can bring various combat experiences to SPACECOM to develop a fully operational combatant command. “That generates combat power almost immediately.”

U.S. Space Command in its new strategy paper warns of a future with “increasingly capable competitors” and a “long-term security threat” posed by Russia and China, claiming the right of self-defense as America and its allies expand their space economies and look to permanently return to the moon.

The U.S. military argues it needs to bolster its offense and defense in space to protect the satellites and radars that enable GPS guidance, ATMs, ballistic missile warning, and more. SPACECOM also uses those assets to direct weapons and troops, send information around the world, and collect intelligence—making them targets for those who want to disrupt American military operations.

“By developing, testing, and deploying counter-space capabilities and evolving their military doctrines to extend into space, our competitors seek to prevent our unfettered access to space and deny our freedom to operate in space,” reads the paper, dated Feb. 1.

This is the latest document to warn that the United States will hit back if its satellites, radars, and other space systems are endangered. It also broadly outlines goals for training, partnerships, and cybersecurity. SpaceNews first reported on the strategic vision Jan. 28.

“The United States, along with our allies and partners, will champion and promote the responsible, peaceful, and safe use of space,” according to the strategy. “However, should our nation call, United States Space Command will always remain ready to prevail against any foreign space-related aggression.”

The document echoes earlier blueprints from the Pentagon and the Space Force, the branch of the military that supplies most systems and personnel to SPACECOM for daily operations. But the 12-page paper, comprised largely of pictures, lacks the detail of previous strategies.

“It reads more like an ad brochure full of chest-thumping assertions than a serious strategic document,” Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, said on Twitter.

He suggested the strategy may miss the mark because the military is not yet comfortable with discussing often-classified space operations in a public forum.

“There is something to be said about the lack of sophistication for space doctrine relative to the other domains because we haven’t had any actual combat in space to draw on,” he told Air Force Magazine.

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DOD Outlines Space Strategy

October 20, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by David Vergun October 7, 2020 (defense.gov)

• In June, the US Defense Department released its Space Strategy Summary document (see here) laying out the DoD’s four-pillar strategy for space activities within the next decade and beyond.

• The first line of effort, says Justin T. Johnson, the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, is for the Space Force to build a comprehensive military advantage in space.

• The second effort is to integrate space in the joint force of the US Space Command and with allies and partners, to organizes military exercises and prepare for battle in space, should that become necessary.

• The third effort is to shape the strategic environment. This includes educating the public about off-planet threats, promoting responsible activities in space, and putting adversaries on notice that harmful meddling will be met with a deliberate response from the United States military.

• The fourth effort, said Johnson, is to work with allies, partners, industry and other US agencies such as NASA, the FAA and the Commerce Department, to help streamline regulations for the space industry, which the DoD relies upon. The Space Development Agency is the key strategist in this regard. Allies and partners are excited to work with the United States Defense Department. Already, 20 nations and 100 academic and industry partners are collaborating with the DoD.

• “China and Russia are aggressively developing counter-space capabilities specifically designed to hold US and allied space capabilities at risk,” said Johnson. “China and Russia have made space a warfighting domain” by deploying systems that could potentially knock out US satellites – satellites which are vital to the missile warning system; precision, navigation and timing; and weather forecasting.

• In addition to the military aspect of space, Johnson notes that space is vital to US and global commerce. “Our $20 trillion US economy runs on space.”

In June, the Defense Department released its Space Strategy document. That document lays out the department’s four-pillar strategy for work that

needs to be done in space within the next decade and beyond.

Justin T. Johnson, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, discussed that strategy at a virtual Heritage Foundation event today.
The first line of effort, he said, is for the U.S. Space Force to build a comprehensive military advantage in space.

The second effort is to integrate space in the joint force and with allies and partners. That mission is primarily the responsibility of U.S. Space Command, which organizes exercises and prepares for the fight in space, should that become necessary, he said.

The third effort, he said, is to shape the strategic environment. That includes such things as educating the public about threats, promoting responsible activities in space and putting adversaries on notice that harmful meddling will be met with a deliberate response from the department at the time and means of its choosing.

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Space Weapons to Counter China and Russia

September 5, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by Dave Makichuk August 28, 2020 (asiatimes.com)

• The Pentagon and President Trump consider space to be a warfighting domain on par with land, air and sea. And the newly established US Space Command indeed faces a clear and present danger. China has already tested anti-satellite missiles, while Russia has deployed on-orbit systems that could threaten US satellites. America’s adversaries now have the ability to use jammers, ground-based lasers, ground- and space-based kinetic weapons, attack ground facilities that support space operations or even carry out a nuclear detonation in space.

• “As a geographical combatant command focused on the space domain, those are the things that keep us up at night,” says Army National Guard Major General Tim Lawson. But Lawson told the virtual audience at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Space Warfighting Industry Forum (on August 21st) that America has new capabilities are on the way to mitigate the threat. But these capabilities classified as “black budget” projects, and he can’t tell you about them.

• “A lot of times you listen to that threat picture and you kind of get a little dismayed at what you’re seeing, but then you look at our side and — trust me — we’ve got some things coming. So, it’s good news,” said Lawson.

• Lawson highlighted the need to have resilient space architectures that utilize large networks of small communications and intelligence-gathering satellites that would be less vulnerable to enemy attacks. “If you had hundreds of small satellites up there in a constellation … the enemy can take out quite a few of those and it will really never have an impact on us,” he said. “That really is the resiliency piece that we’re seeking out there and we need.” The ‘Spacecom’ command is also interested in developments in space logistics such as on-orbit refueling or servicing of satellites. Lawson says that if American industry could put assets into orbit to overwhelm adversaries’ ability to shoot them down, “it would be a game-changer”.

• But it’s not the first time a US president has launched a major military defense project in space. President Ronald Reagan envisioned a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) as an array of space-based X-ray lasers would detect and deflect any nukes headed toward the United States. On March 23, 1983, Reagan called upon the US scientists who “gave us nuclear weapons to turn their great talents to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.”

• But politicians and scientists argued that SDI was overambitious. Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy referred to it as Reagan’s ”reckless ‘Star Wars’ schemes.” The “Star Wars” moniker stuck. Over the course of 10 years, the government spent up to $30 billion on developing the concept without achieving operational status. It was scrapped by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

• [Editor’s Note] So where did this $30 billion go? By coincidence, the 1980’s was when the US Navy created and deployed its deep space fleet of eight oversized submarine-type warp drive spacecraft known as ‘Solar Warden’, unbeknownst to the public.

To say that officials at the newly established US Space Command face a clear and present danger, is an understatement.

America’s adversaries now have the ability to use jammers, ground-based lasers, ground- and space-based kinetic weapons, attack ground facilities that support space operations or even carry out a nuclear detonation in space.

China has already tested anti-satellite missiles, while Russia has deployed on-orbit systems that could threaten US satellites.

But according to Army National Guard Major General Tim Lawson, new capabilities are on the way to mitigate the threat — he just can’t tell you about them, because they are classified under the umbrella of “black budget” projects.

“As a geographical combatant command focused on the space domain, those are the things that keep us up at night,” said Lawson, who made the remarks at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Space Warfighting Industry Forum, which was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I would love to sit behind some closed doors and have this discussion on some of the things we really think we need,” Lawson said when asked about the types of capabilities Spacecom is seeking.

“A lot of times you listen to that threat picture and you kind of get a little dismayed at what you’re seeing, but then you look at our side and — trust me — we’ve got some things coming. So, it’s good news.”

Significant portions of the US military’s space programs are classified, making it difficult for outside observers to know what’s coming down the pike.

Meanwhile, Lawson highlighted the need to have resilient space architectures that utilize large networks of small communications and intelligence-gathering satellites that would be less vulnerable to enemy attacks.

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Japan Vows to Work Closely on Lunar Exploration With the US

September 4, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article from Kyodo News August 26, 2020 (english.kyodonews.net)

• In August 26th, US and Japanese officials met in Tokyo to further discuss Japan’s role in the NASA-led joint lunar exploration project culminating in a return to the Moon in 2024, actual exploration of the lunar surface beginning in 2028, and ultimately the international ‘Artemis’ lunar habitat project. This will be the first time that humans walk on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

• The meeting was attended by Scott Pace, executive secretary of the US National Space Council, Gen. John Raymond, chief of Space Force, and Japanese government officials from the Cabinet Office, Defense Ministry and other Japanese agencies.

• Pursuant to a lunar cooperation accord signed in July 2020, the US and NASA acknowledged opportunities for “Japanese crew activities” on the ‘Gateway’, a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon, as well as participate in activities on the lunar surface.

• US officials also acknowledged Japan’s new ‘Space Operation Squadron’, an Air Self-Defense Force space unit monitoring threats to Japanese satellites in outer space. Japanese officials acknowledged the significance of the US Space Command and Space Force.

• Tokyo and Washington also touched on “growing concern for threats to the continuous, safe and stable use of outer space,” a veiled reference to the growing space capabilities of countries such as China and Russia.

Japan and the United States on Wednesday pledged to work closely on a lunar exploration project led by

the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration after Tokyo joined it last month.

In a joint statement issued after a meeting in Tokyo, the two governments said they “reaffirmed their commitment to Artemis,” the multilateral project intended to return humans to the Moon by 2024 and establish sustainable lunar surface exploration with NASA’s commercial and international partners by 2028.

The two sides “also acknowledged opportunities for Japanese crew activities” on the Gateway, a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon, as well as on the lunar surface, as highlighted in a lunar cooperation accord they signed in July, the statement said.

The last humans to walk on the Moon were American astronauts from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

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UK to Guard Against Threat From China and Russia in Space

August 10, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by Alexander Zhang July 27, 2020 (theepochtimes.com)

• To counter threats from China and Russia, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace wrote in The Telegraph newspaper that the Ministry of Defense plans to pivot away from traditional defense and “operate much more in the newest domains of space, cyber, and sub-sea.”

• On July 15th, Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon in space using the same system that stalked a U.S. reconnaissance satellite earlier this year, according to the US Space Command. Said Wallace, “This week we have been reminded of the threat Russia poses to our national security with the provocative test of a weapon-like projectile from a satellite threatening the peaceful use of space.”

• “But Russia is not alone,” said Wallace. “China, too, is developing offensive space weapons and both nations are upgrading their capabilities.” China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been developing the power to blind, disorient, and even destroy the United States’ GPS system, U.S. experts told The Epoch Times news source

• “The weaponization of space is, unfortunately, well-advanced,” said US Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation Christopher Ford. “Moscow and Beijing have already turned space into a war-fighting domain. Both are fielding new anti-satellite weapons in order to hold U.S. and allied space services at risk.”

• Wallace’s latest remarks appear to signal greater policy alignment between the two trans-Atlantic allies. “As traditional conflict shifts, and cyber and data become the battleground, we must outmaneuver our adversaries with a sharper technological edge and relentless focus on innovation,” said Wallace.

• In recent weeks, the UK government has targeted Russians with new sanctions, accusing Russian actors of cyber-attacks on vaccine research facilities and trying to meddle in last year’s election. Likewise, Britain has reversed its decision to allow the Chinese telecom firm Huawei to install Britain’s 5G network and reacted strongly to China’s imposition of a draconian national security law on Hong Kong, offering 3 million Hong Kong residents a path to British citizenship and suspending its extradition treaty with the former crown colony.

Britain is putting space at the heart of its defence in order to counter threats from China and Russia, according to UK Defence

Secretary Ben Wallace.

As part of a foreign, security, and defence policy review being conducted by the UK government, the Ministry of Defense is planning to pivot away from traditional defence and “operate much more in the newest domains of space, cyber, and sub-sea,” Wallace wrote in The Telegraph.

“This week we have been reminded of the threat Russia poses to our national security with the provocative test of a weapon-like projectile from a satellite threatening the peaceful use of space,” he said.

On July 15, Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon in space using the same system that stalked a U.S. reconnaissance satellite earlier this year, U.S. Space Command said on Thursday.

“But Russia is not alone,” said Wallace. “China, too, is developing offensive space weapons and both nations are upgrading their capabilities.”

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been developing the power to blind, disorient, and even destroy the United States’ GPS system, U.S. experts told The Epoch Times earlier this month.

U.S. Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation Christopher Ford said on Friday that “the weaponisation of space is unfortunately well-advanced.”

“Moscow and Beijing have already turned space into a war-fighting domain,” he said. “Both are fielding new anti-satellite weapons in order to hold U.S. and allied space services at risk.”

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Japan Aims to Put Man on the Moon, Collaborate With US

July 11, 2020
ExoNews Editor

July 2, 2020 (wionews.com)
• The Japanese government announced the country’s 10-year ‘Basic Plan on Space Policy’. Japan aims to double its space industry budget from $11 billion to $22 billion by the early 2030s, and work with the United States to track missiles and use intelligence-gathering satellites during natural disasters.

• One of the key components of the plan is to put a Japanese man on the Moon by 2024, while working with NASA. Japan plans to utilize its resources to strengthen its space policy through the ‘whole-of-government’ approach, while promoting public-private collaborations.

• Japan recently inaugurated the first ‘Space Operations Squadron’ at Fuchu Air Base in Tokyo as an “Air Self-Defense Force”, which will become fully operational by 2023. The squadron will work with the US Space Command to protect the country’s satellites from damage, including armed attacks according to the ‘Basic Space Law’.

• Japan already operates the ‘Quasi-Zenith Satellite System’ to enhance the US’s Global Positioning System in the Asia-Oceania regions. Japan plans to launch a new GPS navigation system of its own in 2023 with 7 satellites. It is concerned over China’s capability to jam or attack satellites with other neighboring countries North Korea and Russia capable of upsetting the regional balance in arms technology.

• In January 2019, China became the first nation to land a rover on the dark side of the lunar surface. This month, China plans to launch a mission to remote-controlled robot on the surface of Mars. The US has already sent four exploratory vehicles to Mars, and intends to launch a fifth this summer which should arrive around February 2021.

• China recently completed its own GPS-type geolocation system which it began in the early 1990s. 120 countries including Pakistan and Thailand are using the Chinese GPS system for port traffic monitoring, to guide rescue operations during disasters and other services, according to Chinese state media.

• When Donald Trump announced the creation of the new Space Force in December, Russia accused the US of seeing space as a place to wage war. In return, the US accused China and Russia of developing tools for jamming and cyberattacks that directly threaten US satellites.

• The Pentagon has stressed that it intends to maintain superiority in space to protect its GPS satellites. In the midst of an escalating space war, the US and Japan have strengthened their “space relations” to build their joint space network and strengthen their satellite force over the next 10 years.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese government for the first time in five years updated its Basic Plan on Space Policy while outlining the country’s 10-year basic space policy. It will work with the United States to not only track missiles but use intelligence-gathering satellites during natural disasters.

**Japan’s President, Shinzo Abe, and US President Donald Trump**

Japan aims to double its space industry by the early 2030s, which currently stands at $11 billion.

One of the key components of the plan is to put a Japanese man on the Moon by 2024 while working with NASA scientists.

Experts say Japan’s space policy is being led as a reaction to China’s 2013 Jade Rabbit lunar rover mission.

Public-private collaboration

“The Government of Japan, recognizing such huge potential of outer space and the severe situation that it is facing, hereby decides a basic plan on space policy for coming ten years with the view of the next two decades, and will secure sufficient budgetary allotments and other necessary resources, and effectively and efficiently utilize these resources to strengthen its space policy through the whole-of-government- approach, while promoting public-private collaborations,” the Japanse government said in a statement.

Air Self-Defense Force

Japan recently inaugurated the first Space Operations Squadron in Tokyo at Fuchu Air Base as an “Air Self-Defense Force” which will become fully operational by 2023.

It is meant to protect the country’s satellite from damage, including armed attacks while working with the US Space Command.

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Coronavirus Not Slowing Russian or Chinese Space Activities, US General Says

May 26, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by Marcus Weisgerber May 12, 2020 (defenseone.com)

• In an April 15th statement (see here), the US Space Command stated that “satellites, which behaved similar to previous Russian satellites… exhibited characteristics of a space weapon” and that its maneuvers “would be interpreted as irresponsible and potentially threatening.”

• At an event on May 12th, Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson (pictured above) said that amid the coronavirus pandemic, “…the Russians’… penchant for unsafe and what I would consider unacceptable behavior in space has not slowed down.” Russia and China continue to launch military rockets and test space weapons, the Vice Commander warned. The US government has postponed several satellite launches due to the pandemic.

• Last month, Russia tested a satellite-killing missile capable of destroying low Earth orbit satellites. US Space Command also criticized Russia for operating two satellites close to American satellites. Earlier this week, a Russian rocket carrying a telescope disintegrated after launch, leaving behind a debris field that threatens satellites orbiting Earth. (see article here) Meanwhile in April, a Chinese rocket carrying an Indonesian satellite failed to reach orbit. (see article here)

Russia and China continue to launch military rockets and test space weapons amid the coronavirus pandemic, a top U.S. general said Tuesday.
“Unfortunately in the case of the Russians, their increasing penchant for unsafe and what I would consider unacceptable behavior in space has not slowed down,” Lt. Gen. David Thompson, the U.S. Space Force vice commander, said at a Mitchell Institute event. “I can’t tell you what they’re doing with their crews and their individuals, but based on their macro-level activities, their cadence has certainly not slowed down.”

Russia tested a satellite-killing missile last month, drawing scorn from U.S. military leaders who said the “missile system is capable of destroying satellites in low Earth orbit.” U.S. Space Command also criticized Russia for operating two satellites close to American satellites.

“These satellites, which behaved similar to previous Russian satellites that exhibited characteristics of a space weapon, conducted maneuvers near a U.S. government satellite that would be interpreted as irresponsible and potentially threatening in any other domain,” Space Command said in an April 15 statement.

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Esper Affirms Support for U.S. Space Command and for an Independent Space Force

September 1, 2019
ExoNews Editor

Listen to “E83 – 9-1-9 Esper Affirms Support for U.S. Space Command and for an Independent Space Force” on Spreaker.
Article by Sandra Erwin August 28, 2019 (spacenews.com)

• On August 28th, in his first news conference as defense secretary, Mark Esper (standing alongside Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford in image above) endorsed the US Space Command as the “next crucial step” in the Pentagon’s reorganization of space forces “to ensure the protection of America’s interests in space.”

• Esper also voiced support for the creation of an independent Space Force as a branch of the armed forces. But the DoD cannot move forward on the establishment of a Space Force branch of the military until Congress authorizes it. Congress is on recess until September 9th . Sources told SpaceNews that DoD officials met with congressional committee staffers over the August recess to discuss Space Force legislation.

• The Pentagon is pushing back on the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which re-designates the Air Force Space Command as the U.S. Space Force without revising Title 10 of the U.S. Code to establish a new military service as necessary. The Senate proposes a one-year transition to consider Title 10 revisions out of concerns about excessive costs and growth in the military bureaucracy. The House version does not require a transition period.

• During his confirmation hearing in July, Esper told the Senate Armed Services Committee that this is the right time to create a separate Space Force service. Referencing the creation of a separate Air Force in 1947, Esper said, “[We’ve] got to realize that it is a new domain of warfare and it requires a different organizational construct and a different way of thinking about it.” “I urge the committee to provide the necessary technical legislative authority to establish the Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces within the Department of the Air Force. I also request the committee to provide the department with the necessary resources to ensure its success.”

• [Editor’s Note] This is a stand-off between the Trump-backed independent Space Force, and the Deep State-backed US Space Command. The Deep State players in the government want this whole space service under the control of Air Force generals whom the Deep State can still manipulate, in spite of the Air Force’s recent shift away from the Deep State. Trump and the Alliance want the space service separate from the Air Force and the US Space Command, so that he can staff the military branch with non-Deep State officials.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday gave the United States Space Command a forceful endorsement and described the standup of the new command as the “next crucial step” in the Pentagon’s reorganization of space forces.

Esper spoke on Wednesday in his first news conference as defense secretary alongside Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. Esper insisted that he does not intend to depart from the broad goals of the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which calls for DoD to work closely with allies and to modernize the U.S. military to outpace China and Russia.

On Thursday at the White House, President Trump and Vice President Pence will host an establishment ceremony with Esper and the commander of U.S. Space Command Gen. John Raymond.

“I’m excited for tomorrow’s activation of the United States Space Command to ensure the protection of America’s interests in space,” Esper said. “We must apply the necessary focus, energy and resources to the task. That is exactly what the command will do.”

Esper also voiced support for the establishment of an independent Space Force as a branch of the armed forces. But DoD cannot move forward until Congress authorizes it.

“As a unified command, the United States Space Command is the next crucial step toward the creation of an independent Space Force as an additional armed service — an independent additional armed service,” said Esper.

Congress is on recess until Sept. 9. But DoD officials have met with congressional committee staffs over the August recess to discuss Space Force legislation, sources told SpaceNews. The Pentagon specifically is pushing back on the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which re-designates the Air Force Space Command as the U.S. Space Force but does not rewrite Title 10 of the U.S. Code to establish a new military service. The Senate proposes a one-year transition after which it would consider Title 10 revisions. The House version of the NDAA does not require that transition period.

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Tag: US Space Command