Expanding Beyond Sensor Variety: Saltzman Promotes Comprehensive Strategy for Monitoring Space Activities
The United States Space Force, under the leadership of Gen. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, is aiming to transform commercial innovations into warfighting advantages. The goal is to address mission priorities, interagency requirements, and strengthen international partnerships.
Gen. Saltzman has called for a more comprehensive program to improve space domain awareness (SDA) capabilities. He highlighted that much of the Space Force's SDA architecture was built for an era where space was not a warfighting domain. To address this, the Space Force requires more personnel dedicated to the mission, updated training, enhanced SDA tools, and revamped policies and procedures.
However, the problem of adjusting policies is not just internal to the Space Force and the Pentagon. Some within the Space Force know what policies need to be adjusted, but lack the authority to direct the change. On the other hand, others have the authority to make changes, but are unaware of which policies need to be fixed.
Gen. Saltzman has pointed out that objects on orbit without current state vectors in the catalog pose a significant problem. He emphasized that the longer the update of the catalog takes, the more problematic the issue becomes, reducing domain awareness. The aim is to move beyond incremental enhancements and solve SDA problems, not just improve processes.
The current catalog of space objects maintained by the Space Force has significant gaps, as elaborated by Gen. Saltzman. He highlighted the need for understanding the domain and moving beyond a collection of sensors and data into an era of true decision-quality understanding. Without operationally relevant SDA, it will be nearly impossible to win in space, according to Gen. Saltzman.
To address these issues, Gen. Saltzman will urgently seek collaboration with intelligence agencies, space industry companies, defense contractors, and academic research institutions. The goal is to minimize the risks of operational surprise. The Space Force needs to retire its lost list, not manage it, to prevent operational surprise.
Hours are too long for space object detection, and full characterization of on-orbit events taking weeks and months is unacceptable, according to Gen. Saltzman. He emphasized that the space domain is becoming increasingly congested and SDA capabilities are struggling to keep pace.
The public version of the Space Force's catalog of space objects is housed on the Space-Track.org website. An object with a state vector several days old is an issue, as mentioned by Gen. Saltzman. He highlighted the need for a shift from a largely transactional relationship with industry to a much more collaborative partnership.
In conclusion, the Space Force is seeking to enhance its SDA capabilities to ensure it can maintain its advantage in the space domain. This includes addressing policy issues, improving technology, and collaborating with various stakeholders to achieve this goal.
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