To Boldy Go . . . Understanding the Space Force Mission
by Michael Morton
When the concept of a Space Force was publicly announced, what reactions did you see in the press and social media? That the Air Force was already doing space stuff and it’s a waste of money? This infringed on NASA’s territory? Maybe you heard jokes about space shuttle door gunners and going after alien bases on the Moon? Or that we should be more concerned with what was happening on Earth?
What these reactions showed was that the public didn’t understand what the United States does with its military space assets. The people and equipment that make up the current (and future) USSF play roles in all aspects of our lives. It isn’t just the military that benefits from the USSF mission. So let’s take a look at what the USSF actually does and how this relates to both military and civilian life.
The USSF mission[1] is to “secure our nation’s interests in, from, and to space.” This means the USSF will recruit new members, place them in their respective organizations, train them to operate their systems, and equip them with said systems. This is how the USSF provides space capabilities such as Space Situational Awareness; Space Control; Position, Navigation, and Timing; Space-based Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR); Space-based Environmental Monitoring; Satellite Communications (SATCOM); and Nuclear detonation Detection (NUDET). To enable these capabilities, the USSF also conducts Spacelift and Satellite Operations. But what exactly are these capabilities?
USSF Capabilities
* Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is knowing where things are in orbit around Earth. The USSF tracks active and dead satellites, junk created from launches (such as expended rocket bodies), and debris from collisions. It’s also their job to monitor the space lanes, looking for conjunctions where two or more satellites or other debris have the chance of running into one another—and then making plans to avoid a collision. Operations are being expanded to include the cislunar space around the Moon. Knowing where things are in orbit is key to ensuring they don’t collide with each other or interfere with ongoing operations.
* Space Control includes offensive and defensive operations to ensure the U.S. and its allies have the freedom to operate in space. This is how we protect our space assets.
* Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) supplies positional information, the ability to navigate over terrain, and supplies highly accurate timing for banking, communication systems, and the electrical power grid.[2] The most common example of this is the Global Positioning System (GPS).
* Space-based Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) is the gathering of information to understand an adversary or situation. This is done by either watching a large area for a long period of time to see what happens (surveillance) or watching a specific area at a specific time (reconnaissance). ISR operations support ballistic missile warning, targeting analysis, threat capability assessment, situational awareness, battle damage assessment, and in general helps the USSF understand what is going on in space.
* Space-based Environmental Monitoring supports both the terrestrial and space environments. This is how the meteorological and oceanographic forecasts and assessments of environmental impacts are created. It also provides forecasts, alerts, and warnings for the space environment that may affect space capabilities, space operations, and their terrestrial users. The most visible aspect of this are the weather images showing the tracks of hurricanes and other major storms.
* SATCOM—military, commercial, foreign, and civil—provides global coverage which affords the U.S. and allied national and military leaders with a means to communicate no matter the location. This can also include the broadcast of satellite television signals and video conferences like Zoom and Webex. The USSF’s Commercial Satellite Communications Office plans to award nearly $2.3 billion in commercial SATCOM contracts over the next two years.[3]
* The USSF operates the space-based portion of the nuclear detection system to provide a worldwide capability to detect, locate, and report any nuclear detonations in Earth’s atmosphere, near space, or deep space in near real-time. This is used to enforce nuclear test ban treaties and monitor developing capability in nonnuclear nations.
* To operate in space, you have to get there. Spacelift is the ability to deliver payloads (satellites or other materials) into space. This includes planning, configuring, and range operations necessary to conduct the launch. Every U.S. rocket launch you see is either from a DOD launch range or overseen by USSF personnel.
* Finally, you have to operate the satellites once they’re on orbit. Satellite Operations maneuver, configure, operate, and sustain on-orbit spacecraft to ensure everything is working. These operators ensure the satellite itself (the bus) is able to maintain altitude and attitude, is generating and storing electricity (solar panels and batteries), and is shedding excess heat. The payload is the actual capability provided by the satellite, such as SATCOM or PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing).
“That’s interesting,” you might say, “but so what? Why does it matter to me?”
Believe it or not, you use many of the same space capabilities the military does in your everyday life. What the USSF provides is much the same as a utility company, such as electric, water, internet, or cell phone.
Most people wake up to the alarm on their cell phone. Your phone gets its timing through the cellular network, which in turn receives that timing from GPS. That accurate timing across networks and computers is critical to providing secure, encrypted communications. When you check the weather for the day, those forecasts were developed from the data provided by weather satellites. Checking the route on your way to work is a form of ISR, with the maps provided by imaging satellites. So is looking for a place to eat. The reviews you read about the restaurant provide intelligence through surveillance, and checking to see if it’s open or busy is reconnaissance.
Let’s go one step further. Your breakfast was made from food grown by farmers who use radar satellite images to figure out the best time to plant and harvest and GPS satellites to measure the ground to plow. The food was moved to processing plants and grocery stores by trucks who use GPS to find the best routes. You paid with a credit card, and that terminal uses GPS timing to make sure your transaction goes through securely. At work, you may talk with colleagues or business partners on the other side of the planet, and your Internet or phone signal may use SATCOM to get there.
In short, you use space services in many aspects of your life, even if you aren’t aware of it. And that’s how those capabilities are supposed to work. You don’t need to be aware of every aspect of how the information gets to you. As long as your phone can plot your route, you can use your credit cards, and you can look up the weather forecast, it really doesn’t matter how it works.
But it’s the men and women in the Space Force that ensure you have access to that information. The USSF ensures the United States will continue to have freedom of action in space, without being constrained by another nation. Our space assets guarantee we have a global perspective, able to detect and respond to changing conditions around the world. Finally, the USSF will go on providing us with an unmatched capability to “. . . act responsibly in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of space activities.[4]”
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Michael Morton is a retired USAF space officer and wishes the Space Force happened earlier. Still, he gets to work for them as a civilian, so life isn’t all bad. He writes award-winning military sci-fi and fantasy and lives in Colorado Springs with his family. When he’s not writing, he enjoys camping and exploring the local distilleries and breweries. His books can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-Morton/author/B07SB1PXQ9
1) https://www.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/About-Space-Force/a
2) GPS.gov: Timing Applications
3) DoD Satcom: Big money for military satellites, slow shift to commercial services - SpaceNews
4) National-Space-Policy.pdf (archives.gov)