Keeping Closer Tabs on What’s in Orbit ; Space Command Guards Satellites

By TOM ROEDER THE GAZETTE

An anti-satellite missile test carried out by China last month created the biggest debris cloud Air Force Space Command has seen in years and steeled determination of its commanders to get a clearer picture of objects in orbit.

Knowledge of what’s in orbit is crucial to protect more than $200 billion in U.S. satellite assets that are responsible for everything from time-stamping bank transactions to predicting the weather, said Brig. Gen. C. Donald Alston, the Colorado Springsbased command’s director of air, space and information operations.

“In space, we have to be able to understand what’s up there and we have to understand what the ability of that satellite is and what the intention of the owner or operator of that satellite is,” Alston said.

Space Command is working to refine the capabilities it has to observe objects in orbit and is pursuing development of a surveillance satellite that would be used to spy on space rather than on Earth.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that space situational awareness is the No. 1 capability we need to focus on,” Alston said.

The intensified focus doesn’t mean, though, that the U.S. is blind to what’s in space. Alston said the Chinese test showed how well Space Command’s capabilities work.

American infrared-sensing satellites in stationary orbit high above the planet quickly spotted

the Chinese rocket launch. Experts in California and at the North American Aerospace Defense Command rapidly determined that the rocket was headed for orbit.

Ground-based telescopes and radar stations followed the rocket into space and tracked it as it sent an anti-satellite warhead slamming into an obsolete Chinese weather satellite.

“Our capabilities, our sensors and our crews all performed as advertised,” Alston said.

The work didn’t stop there. Space Command airmen tracked the debris created by the impact and calculated its path in space.

“We began to track what is now more than 600 objects and will expand by several hundred more,” Alston said.

Tracking the newly created space junk is important because it could fly into satellites or even the international space station. Because it is circling the Earth at 18,000 mph, even the smallest piece of debris could do catastrophic damage if it hits something in space.

The Chinese test sparked reaction by international officials because it created so much debris.

“The fact that they would test this thing in space is a concern to us,” Alston said.

The United States developed an anti-satellite missile in the 1980s, but shelved the Boeing-built product before it was used operationally.

Alston said Space Command has the capability to defend American military satellites and to deny the use of satellites to an enemy, but would not elaborate on those capabilities, citing security.

“We presume a right of selfdefense there, and we expect the peaceful use of space by all,” Alston said.

Saying satellites are crucial to America’s military prowess, Alston said another important consideration is buying and building new satellites to replace aging Cold War craft.

“We need to reinvest, because it is the best way to get the effects we need on the battlefield,” he said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com

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