In NDAA, HASC orders unclassified Pentagon strategy for satellite protection

In NDAA, HASC orders unclassified Pentagon strategy for satellite protection
In NDAA, HASC orders unclassified Pentagon strategy for satellite protection

The House Armed Services Committee would require Space Force to establish specific requirements for satellite protection prior to starting any major new acquisition program. 

China In Space: Does US Contest Or Cooperate?

China In Space: Does US Contest Or Cooperate?
China In Space: Does US Contest Or Cooperate?

The RAND report points out that China is second only to the US in the number of military and commercial imagery satellites it operates.

Raymond Rips Russian ASAT Test, Arms Control Hypocrisy

Raymond Rips Russian ASAT Test, Arms Control Hypocrisy
Raymond Rips Russian ASAT Test, Arms Control Hypocrisy

The Russian Nudol mobile ASAT missile has been tested “as many as nine times in the past,” SWF’s Brian Weeden told me in an email.

Satellite Attack Potential Increases: CSIS, SWF

Satellite Attack Potential Increases: CSIS, SWF
Satellite Attack Potential Increases: CSIS, SWF

“Russia has become one of the world’s greatest perpetrators of electronic counterspace warfare, jamming and spoofing PNT and communications satellite signals in conflict zones, nearby territories, and within its own borders,” CSIS says.

U.S. India ASAT Test React May Backfire, Experts Say

U.S. India ASAT Test React May Backfire, Experts Say
U.S. India ASAT Test React May Backfire, Experts Say

The India ASAT test could have provided an opportunity for leadership from the Trump administration to help prevent the creation of space debris.

New UN Guidelines For Space Sustainability Are A Big Deal

New UN Guidelines For Space Sustainability Are A Big Deal
New UN Guidelines For Space Sustainability Are A Big Deal

You probably don’t know it, but in early February 87 countries agreed to voluntary guidelines to enhance the long-term sustainability of the space domain, a significant achievement in space diplomacy.

Given that it took eight years to reach this agreement on a set of non-legally binding measures that largely reaffirm existing practices, it is not surprising that it was not widely covered in the news. But it matters.

US Must Rethink Space Policy In Face Of Enormous Change

US Must Rethink Space Policy In Face Of Enormous Change
US Must Rethink Space Policy In Face Of Enormous Change

WASHINGTON: In the vast swirling enterprise of global security space, the United States must come to terms with the tectonic shifts occurring as commercial companies come to dominate launch, the building of satellites and the sensors and software on which they depend, and figure out how to lead the way. That’s the conclusion of what…

CSIS On The Second Space Age: ‘Diverse, Disruptive, Disordered And Dangerous’

CSIS On The Second Space Age: ‘Diverse, Disruptive, Disordered And Dangerous’
CSIS On The Second Space Age: ‘Diverse, Disruptive, Disordered And Dangerous’

WASHINGTON: We knew space was congested, contested and all that. But the folks at CSIS have recast that to good effect in a report actually worth reading in detail. The Second Space Age (yes, they’ve come up with a catchy rubric!) is, they say, more diverse, disruptive, disordered, and dangerous than the first space age.” How…

Build Bare-Bones Network & Small Satellites For Multi-Domain Battle

Build Bare-Bones Network & Small Satellites For Multi-Domain Battle
Build Bare-Bones Network & Small Satellites For Multi-Domain Battle

WASHINGTON: The Navy wants the Army’s help win a future Multi-Domain Battle with China, a senior defense official told me last week, but to get it, the two services have to connect through a simple, robust network using small and rapidly-launched satellites. We don’t need massive bandwidth to handle video teleconferences, full motion video from drones,…

Air Force Space Budget Up $1.5B; Teague ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ On OCX DAB Meet

Air Force Space Budget Up $1.5B; Teague ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ On OCX DAB Meet
Air Force Space Budget Up $1.5B; Teague ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ On OCX DAB Meet

PENTAGON: The big news on the 2018 Air Force space budget: it grew at least $1.5 billion. That’s a large increase considering the total budget request is $10.4 billion. For perspective, the entire Defense Department space budget last year — known as the space Major Force Program — was $22 billion. The Air Force oversees the vast…

Issues To Watch At Space & Missile Defense Conference: Heritage

Issues To Watch At Space & Missile Defense Conference: Heritage
Issues To Watch At Space & Missile Defense Conference: Heritage

Monday marks the beginning of the Army-centric Space and Missile Defense Symposium, an annual conference in Huntsville, Ala.  Here are a few topics likely to generate conference buzz. Missile Defense The Obama administration’s 2016 budget request for missile defense investments went up slightly to $9.6 billion for missile defense development and operations, of which $8.1 billion is for the Missile Defense…

Would Spies Command In A Space War? Dunford Says Maybe

Would Spies Command In A Space War? Dunford Says Maybe
Would Spies Command In A Space War? Dunford Says Maybe

PENTAGON: If a spy satellite is attacked, who will command America’s response — the head of Strategic Command or the Director of National Intelligence? If an Air Force satellite is attacked first, who would command America’s response? These questions are being hotly — but very quietly –debated at the highest reaches of the U.S. government. Since an…

Work Unveils First Space Ops Center For Intel Community And Military

Work Unveils First Space Ops Center For Intel Community And Military
Work Unveils First Space Ops Center For Intel Community And Military

GEOINT: For the first time, all the nation’s spy satellites and the military’s satellites will be tracked from a single   location, allowing the two communities to develop tactics, techniques and procedures together, Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said here today. “But the thing we need most is a space operations center, and we are intent…

STRATCOM Must Be Warfighters, Not FAA In Space: Lt. Gen. Kowalski

STRATCOM Must Be Warfighters, Not FAA In Space: Lt. Gen. Kowalski
STRATCOM Must Be Warfighters, Not FAA In Space: Lt. Gen. Kowalski

CAPITOL HILL: The US military spends too much time acting as the FAA of space and not enough watching for potential threats, the deputy chief of Strategic Command said today. That has to change as outer space becomes increasingly contested and increasingly intertwined with cyberspace, Lt. Gen. James Kowalski told a Peter Huessy breakfast here.…