U.S. Space Command does not yet have all the capabilities required to target adversary space systems during a conflict, Gen. Stephen Whiting, the command’s leader, said at the annual Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies conference in Maui. Whiting said space targeting is maturing but still has a long way to go. The command must be able to find, fix, track and target threats in space, he said. Breaking Defense reported.
Whiting said SPACECOM does not have robust target folders comparable to those available to the Joint Force in other domains. He also said the command needs real-time battlespace awareness after a target is engaged to execute battle management. The remarks identify requirements for targeting and for managing actions after an engagement, but did not indicate that SPACECOM has a complete set of capabilities for either task.
Offensive actions against adversary space systems during a conflict are one function within the broader concept of space control, Whiting said. He described space control as the full range of activities used to actively contest and control the space domain, with the goal of achieving space superiority.
According to Whiting’s description, space control includes offensive and defensive actions. Those actions may involve kinetic or non-kinetic effects and may be reversible or nonreversible. Offensive operations against adversary space systems therefore form one part of a wider mission involving activities intended to contest and control space.
Whiting said space control depends on space domain awareness, or SDA. He described SDA as the means of integrating information about objects and activity in orbit into intelligence that supports surveillance, protection, prevention and the negation of threats. He also said SDA provides the information needed to understand the enemy, friendly forces, the operating environment and other conditions relevant to military operations in space.
The command is also developing baseline capabilities for operations in cislunar space and beyond. Whiting identified SDA as a primary requirement for those operations and said SPACECOM is working to ensure that its SDA architecture can scale as operations expand into larger volumes of space.
He said objects farther from Earth are subject to differing levels of gravity, magnetic interference and solar radiation. Those effects can influence how spacecraft operate. Whiting said the command must account for those conditions as it develops capabilities for cislunar operations and operations beyond the cislunar region.
SPACECOM’s stated needs in cislunar space extend beyond SDA. Whiting said the U.S. military lacks capabilities for positioning, navigation and timing, as well as satellite communications, for those operations. He also said the military lacks a standard format for discussing positional states in cislunar space.
The command is focused on developing baseline capabilities that include space domain awareness and satellite communications for cislunar operations. The work is part of SPACECOM’s effort to address requirements for operating beyond near-Earth space while it continues to improve the capabilities needed to target and manage adversary space systems.
Whiting’s remarks place targeting, battle management and space domain awareness within the same operational framework. SPACECOM is seeking capabilities to identify and track threats, maintain awareness after engagements, and conduct the broader activities associated with space control. At the same time, the command is working on communications, positioning and other baseline capabilities for operations in cislunar space and beyond.