“Space is rapidly becoming congested and contested,” said Phase Four CEO, Beau Jarvis. “The U.S. Space Force and commercial satellite operators must increase the maneuverability of their spacecraft to operate safely and minimize on orbit risks.”
The hallmark of Phase Four’s versatile RF Thruster technology is its highly flexible architecture that allows it to easily operate on noble gases, the traditional propellants for electric propulsion, and on new alternative propellants ranging from solid iodine to liquid water to liquid rocket propellants. To date, multi-mode capability, operating chemical and electric propulsion from the same liquid rocket propellant, has not been possible with existing Cold War-era electric propulsion systems used on legacy satellites.
Together with the Air Force and Space Force, Phase Four will demonstrate operation of its radio-frequency thruster on ASCENT green propellant, paving the way for significantly enhanced maneuvering capabilities for future space vehicles via multiple modes of propulsion, akin to gears on a car:
“Low gear” chemical propulsion mode – high thrust, low efficiency chemical thruster for maneuvers such as rapid response orbit changes and collision avoidance
“High gear” electric propulsion mode – lower thrust but high efficiency electric thruster for high delta-v orbit transfers and long duration station-keeping and phasing
Phase Four’s project received several letters of support from industry and government agencies that anticipate multi-mode propulsion engines will lead to more responsive and maneuverable space vehicles and create new opportunities for commercial and defense satellite operators.
Phase Four is also working with other government customers to further adapt Maxwell engines to operate on low cost solid propellant that can be stored without high pressure and can be delivered pre-fueled; ready for rapid integration to a satellite and launch without requiring expensive ground servicing operations. The company has also been scaling up its production capabilities to deliver higher quantities of Maxwell engines to small satellite manufacturers in industry-best lead times of 3-4 months.
“We’re looking forward to being at the forefront of new in-space propulsion capabilities with development of multimode propulsion with ASCENT,” said Jason Wallace, VP of Advanced Development at Phase Four. “Although this development is critical to maintaining the United States’ propulsive superiority in space for defense applications, the dual-use nature of this multimode technology is clear. As industry seeks to expand beyond Low Earth Orbit and standard mission profiles, we are seeing a growing industry need for propulsion that can adapt to the various stages of commercial missions, from rapid deployment, to long-term stationkeeping, to collision avoidance and to deorbiting. This SpaceWERX contract is foundational to addressing both defense and commercial needs for multimode propulsion.”
About Phase Four Phase Four is a disruptive provider of simple electric propulsion (EP) solutions for small satellites. The company was founded in 2015 to address the demands of next-generation satellite constellations and to accelerate the advancement of its radio-frequency thruster (RFT). The Phase Four RFT represents a revolutionary new architecture that realizes lower cost, mass-manufacturability, miniaturized power electronics, and propellant agnosticism over incumbent technologies, without compromising performance. In 2021 Phase Four’s Maxwell turn-key propulsion system achieved flight heritage and is now being regularly utilized by small satellite operators. Learn more at www.phasefour.io.
Note: We’ve brought you a front-row seat to Florida space news since 1966. Journalism like ours takes time and resources. Please consider a subscription.
—
Despite losing the high-profile competition for U.S. Space Command headquarters earlier this year, Florida officials haven’t stopped trying to woo more operations related to the military’s newest branch.
Space Florida, the state’s spaceport authority and aerospace development agency, is investigating what it will take to bring more Space Force operations to Brevard County, an area already home to two military installations, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and dozens of commercial spaceflight companies. The branch established in late 2019 still needs to make decisions on where to establish some operations like training centers.
Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station were among the first former Air Force facilities to be renamed as Space Force installations. Much like the Marine Corps falls under the purview of the Navy, the Space Force is positioned under Air Force leadership.
“The Space Force was stood up and given the job to organize, train, and equip to ensure America’s freedom of operation in that domain,” Mark Bontrager, Space Florida’s vice president for spaceport operations, told a Florida Senate committee this week. “We are privileged to have two of the seven Space Force installations.”
From liftoff to splashdown:SpaceX’s Inspiration4 highlights the coming age of space tourism, but it’s still far off
Rocket launch schedule:Upcoming Florida launches and landings
Looking forward, he said, Florida could be an ideal location for training facilities, or what are known as technical schools. Tech schools usually come immediately after basic training and prepare new military members – in this case, Space Force guardians – for their specific roles.
“About 16,000 of those people need to be trained and equipped from the very beginning of the time they raise their right hand and show up as a young enlisted or officer,” Bontrager said. “That Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) is going to be provisionally stood up in Colorado Springs as a temporary location.”
“Florida is positioned to lean into and win,” at least some of the activities related to STARCOM, he said.
Vandenberg Space Force Base near Los Angeles, California, was already selected for the first of five STARCOM sub-commands, or “deltas,” but more selections are expected in the coming months. Its command headquarters, however, is still up for grabs.
One of the advantages inherent to Florida is those trained in space-related roles will most likely end up being stationed here at some point or will at least travel here for launch activities, for example. Securing STARCOM’s headquarters would be a win for the state for several reasons, including the fact that guardians will return for training several times over the course of their careers.
Patrick Space Force Base lost the Space Command headquarters to Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal earlier this year. The branch’s interim command is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Bontrager said ongoing meetings with the Space Force, Air Force, and other agencies could help things turn out differently for Florida this time.
“We went through the unpleasant experience of not winning the U.S. Space Command headquarters,” he said. “But we learned a lot through that process. One of the things we learned was the Air Force didn’t take into account, as part of their criteria, the things Florida can bring to the fight.”
After the selection, the Air Force asked Space Florida to offer input into the selection criteria, which Bontrager said they did “very aggressively.”
“We brought lists of actions and things they ought to be looking at,” he said, adding that Space Florida is currently compiling statewide and regional reports.
“We are in the process of finalizing a statewide statement of capability that we are going to be able to bring to help the Air Force and Space Force understand those assets and capabilities that already exist in Florida,” he said.
Contact Emre Kelly at [email protected] or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly. Support space journalism by subscribing at floridatoday.com/specialoffer/.
No obvious changes have come to one of New Hampshire’s least-known military installations as it completes the transition from Air Force to Space Force, but the increasing importance of satellites, as well as the number of nations with launch capability, may affect its future.
“Space has been elevated to a war-fighting domain,” said Lt. Col David Zesinger, commander of New Boston Space Force Station, during a brief interview Wednesday as he escorted U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan on a tour of the facility.
Hassan was touring the 2,800-acre facility, which dates to World War II and has been hosting satellite dishes since 1960, to get an update on its mission. The base was officially transferred to the Space Force in July although indications of its previous status remain, including warning signs posted all along the perimeter that say not to enter the “U.S. Air Force” facility.
“The Space Force is a central part of national defense,” Hassan said, speaking through a car window after a briefing in the base’s control center. She wanted to see the base in person, she said, to know “what the transition to the Space Force means for that mission.”
Zesinger said there have been no changes to personnel – about 120 staffers work at the station – since the change.
The base has a half-dozen radar domes that look like gigantic golf balls. These are flexible domes made of material that is transparent to radio waves, each covering an individual satellite dish used to track, communicate with and control scores of government and civilian satellites.
The station is part of U.S. Space Force Delta 6 – Space Access and Cyberspace Operations, headquartered in Colorado.
The base covers parts of New Boston, Amherst and Mont Vernon, and locals have long sought some public access to the base, virtually all of which is wooded and undeveloped.
Parts are open to military personnel, both active and retired, for recreation and hunting, including Joe English Pond in the center. Civilian access has not been allowed for decades, both for security reasons and also because of fears of unexploded bombs and shells left over from its original purpose as a training area for bombers flying out of what is now Manchester airport.
A major push to find and get rid of that ban took place around a decade ago, including the explosion of a 2,000-pound bomb found at the bottom of Joe English Pond, but there’s no indication that access rules will change.
“There is certainly a lot of interest in the area” about public access, Hassan said. “The important thing is to make sure it can fulfill its mission.”
The base was created in 1942 when the government bought out a number of farms in what was then a thinly populated agricultural area west of Manchester. It was used as a training ground for military pilots in what was then the U.S. Army Air Corps flying out of Grenier Field, now Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, until 1956. In 1960 it began service as a satellite tracking station.
The Space Force was created in 2019 as a branch of the military like the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or [email protected] or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
“It makes perfect sense,” saidone former intelligence official who is advising the military in the planning, citing its more expansive geographic responsibilities than other military branches and access to global — and even galactic — surveillance technologies through the U.S. Space Command. “There is no limit to the Space Force mission. It doesn’t have a geographic boundary like the other services.”
But the former official also said some fear it will only deepen the branch’s public relations challenge by providing more material for the jokes, science-fiction-themed memes and other forms of popular ridicule that the Space Force has endured since it was championed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018, who made it an applause line in his political rallies.
“They really are sensitive to that,” the former official said. “They want people to take them seriously. They don’t want to do anything that is embarrassing. But this is national security. This is their job.”
The deliberations over what to do next about the unexplained sightings of high performance aircraft are part of a new push to establish a more permanent government research effort.
A June report to Congress from the director of national intelligence concluded that all but one of 144 UFO sightings that were reviewed could not be explained, including 18 that appeared to exhibit advanced properties.
The unclassified summary stated that “we currently lack sufficient information in our dataset to attribute incidents to specific explanations.” It also concluded that the unknown craft “clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security.”
In response, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security is developing a plan to “formalize the mission” after being instructed by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks.
In a memo to senior military leaders following the report’s release, Hicks sought a plan “for the establishment and operation of the new activity, to include the organizational alignment, resources and staffing required, as well as any necessary authorities.”
The issue has primarily been overseen by a temporary Pentagon UAP Task Force that was stood up in 2020 and led by the Navy, whose pilots, radars and other surveillance systems have compiled most of the recent reports of unexplained sightings.
The Pentagon has provided few details about the deliberations over what will replace the task force. “Planning for an activity to take over the UAPTF’s mission is ongoing,” said Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough.
The Space Force declined to address the internal deliberations. The Department of the Air Force, which oversees the Space Force, also deferred questions to Gough.
Congress, which requested the UAP report, is also planning to play more of a role.
The Senate’s version of the fiscal 2022 Intelligence Act includes several provisions on the subject, including requiring classified reports to Congress on UAP sightings and analysis every quarter, as well as calling on all agencies to share any data they have so that a more comprehensive UFO file can be compiled for further study.
A congressional staffer also told POLITICO the classified portion of the bill includes a provision outlining more parameters for tackling the subject over the longer term, including recommending additional funding to finance the effort.
A former Pentagon official also said he expects there will also be legislative guidance on UAPs in a final version of the National Defense Authorization Act.
But in additionto the Space Force,which works in tandem with the newly reestablished U.S. Space Command, officials are considering a number of military and intelligence organizations at this early stage that could take the lead or combine their efforts in a new organization.
One is the secretive Space Security and Defense Program, which reports to both the Pentagon and thedirector of national intelligence, which oversees all spy agencies.
The outfit has a broad writ to assess potential space threats and also has authority to award contracts to develop new collection capabilities. Other candidates for a greater role in overseeing UFO issues are the Defense Intelligence Agency, which studies foreign weapons systems and has a history of researching such sightings, as well as the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, which is responsible for defending the nation’s airspace.
Chris Mellon, a former senior Pentagon intelligence official and congressional staffer who has been advising the military on the topic, said whoever is tasked with leading a more permanent effort needs to be willing to work closely with numerous military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies across the government as well as the academic and scientific communities and the public.
“NORAD would seem to make sense, but again its willingness to share information with other organizations is questionable. Still, they have money and contracting authority and the heft needed to make changes to the status quo if they were willing to aggressively pursue the issue,” he wrote in a recent blog post.
“Regardless,” he added, “the first and most important step for Congress to take is to either identify a permanent home for the mission or require DoD and the [intelligence community]to do so and to explain their resulting rationale with the oversight committees.”
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket lifts off at 11:12 a.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base on September 27, 2021, carrying NASA’s Landsat 9 and multiple smallsat payloads to orbit.
Atlas V accelerated using 860,000 pounds of thrust while performing the pitch and yaw maneuvers off the launch pad to obtain the proper heading. The Atlas V delivered Landsat 9 into a near-polar, sun synchronous orbit around Earth, continuing the Landsat program’s vital role of repeat global observations for monitoring, understanding and managing Earth’s natural resources. The addition of Landsat 9 will continue Landsat’s irreplaceable record of Earth’s land surfaces with high-quality, global land imaging measurements for decades to come.
Space Systems Command offered the following regarding this important launch…
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 launch vehicle, carrying the NASA-U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat 9 Observatory satellite, along with four cubesats from the U.S. Space Force’s Mission Manifest Office, was successfully launched today at 11:12 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in northern Santa Barbara County, California.
Space Systems Command’s Launch Enterprise Mission Manifest Office worked with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center(GSFC) during the integration period on the Landsat 9 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Flight System (L9EFS), integrating multi-manifest satellite vehicles (MSVs) into several dispensers designed to fit onto an ESPA ring.
“The U.S. Space Force and Launch Enterprise continually look for innovative opportunities to provide access to space,” said Col. Rob Bongiovi, SSC Launch Enterprise director. “This successful collaboration with NASA highlights the tireless efforts of our organizations to develop and launch capability while maximizing the taxpayers’ dollars.”
The MMO operates as the Space Force’s “Gateway to Space” by working with SSC’s Space Force Operations to ensure all Department of Defense and Intelligence Community sponsored satellite vehicles have a ride to space. The L9EFS team includes members of the USSF’s MMO, NASA’s GSFC, and Parsons Corporation.
“At the onset of the mission, the objective was to fly all mass simulators for a proof of concept, but we quickly identified real satellites to launch instead,” said Maj. Julius Williams, chief of the MMO. “Our ability to work with mission partners throughout the government and launch the most capability available into orbit is a key tenet of the Mission Manifest Office.”
Four MSVs sponsored by the Defense Innovation Unit, Air Force Research Laboratory, Missile Defense Agency, and NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) were flown and deployed from the L9EFS.
The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) from the University of Colorado at Boulder will study exoplanet atmospheres by monitoring them in the near-ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The Cusp Plasma Energy Detector (CuPID) from Boston University will collect data on interactions between solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere. The spacecraft carries a novel wide field-of-view soft X-ray telescope to generate these first of their kind images.
CesiumAstro developed the other two cubesats in partnership with DIU. Cesium Mission 1 (CM1) is an on-orbit testbed featuring state-of-the-art active phased array communication systems and intersatellite links. CM1 will provide the capability to demonstrate advanced features of CesiumAstro’s technology such as dynamic waveform switching and dynamic link optimization. Both Cesium satellites include three onboard radios for tracking, telemetry, and commanding and can coordinate to perform forward, return, and cross-link experiments commanded from Cesium’s ground segment or customer ground segments globally.
With today’s successful launch, Vandenberg Space Force Base celebrates a couple of important milestones: the 300th Atlas and 2,000th launch from Vandenberg since the base became active in the late 1950’s.
“This mission gives us the opportunity to celebrate the thousands of people from Team Vandenberg, past and present, who share a proud heritage beginning with the first launch in 1958 through this 2,000th launch,” said Col. Robert Long, Space Launch Delta 30 commander. “Space—and launch—is hard. Our record of success is a testament to longstanding mission excellence.”
Vandenberg launched its first missile, nicknamed “Tune Up,” on December 16, 1958. The PGM-17A Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile, built by the Douglas Aircraft Company (later, McDonnell Douglas) in Santa Monica, California, lifted off from Launch Facility 75-1-1, known today as Space Launch Complex-2 East. Soon after, the first SM-65 Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, built by General Dynamics’ Convair division in San Diego was launched on September 9, 1959 from Launch Facility 576 A-2. T
The Thor IRBM later matured into the workhorse space launch vehicle for the Air Force, NASA and commercial companies known as the Delta, and later Delta II until its final mission for NASA’s Earth Observing System, launched from SLC-2E at Vandenberg on Sept. 15, 2018, capping an illustrious 60-year launch history.
“Vandenberg Space Force Base has had 56 launch facilities all together supporting customers between government entities and commercial launch providers,” said Dr. Scott Bailey, Space Launch Delta 30 historian.
Since 1958, the previous 1,999 launches Vandenberg facilitated include missile and space programs such as the Atlas, Thor, Titan I, Titan II, Minuteman I/II/III, Scout, Peacekeeper, Delta II, Delta IV/Heavy, and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 among many others. Space Launch Delta 30’s objective with every mission, is to provide indispensable launch, landing, and range capabilities to the nation.
All personnel assigned to SLD 30 launch missions, provide safe launch and range capabilities as the only military space launch installation on the west coast of the continental United States. This is to support commercial and government customers. It takes an entire collaborate joint force of Airmen and Guardians to oversee every launch at Vandenberg and Col. Long understands the importance of team Vandenberg.
“It is the entire team today and across six decades that we celebrate as we achieve this milestone. What’s more, we’re crossing this monumental threshold with two great mission partners, NASA and United Launch Alliance,” said Long.
Original news item…
The launch is on track for September 27 from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Launch is planned for 11:11 a.m. PDT. The live launch broadcast starts at 10:30 a.m. PDT on September 27 at www.ulalaunch.com.
Landsat 9 is a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). In addition to Landsat 9, this mission includes the ESPA Flight System (EFS) that will deploy multiple cubesats after Landsat 9 separation. The Atlas V will deploy the Landsat 9 and the smallsats into two different orbits, enabling the first, four-burn, Centaur mission for ULA on an Atlas V rocket. The Centaur upper stage has the capacity for increased performance, and the flight design of the Landsat 9 mission takes advantage of that capability.
The mission will launch on an Atlas V 401 configuration rocket that includes a 13.7 ft. (4 meters) Extra Extended Payload Fairing (XEPF) and stands 194 ft. (59 meters) tall. The Atlas booster for this mission is powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine. Aerojet Rocketdyne provided the RL10C-1 engine for the Centaur upper stage.
This will be the 88th launch of the Atlas V rocket and 20th mission launched on an Atlas V in partnership with NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP). This launch is the 300th Atlas launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base. To date, ULA has launched 144 times with 100 percent mission success.
“We are proud to continue to serve as the primary launch provider for Landsat missions. ULA and our heritage launch vehicles have launched every Landsat mission since 1972,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “The Landsat series provides outstanding data for Earth environment and science-based research and Landsat 9 will add to these capabilities. We have worked alongside our partners, in a challenging health environment, to prepare to launch this important mission that will empower Earth research from space for decades to come.”
Space is important to us and that’s why we’re working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.
—
Update (3:30 p.m. ET Dec. 5): United Launch Alliance again delayed this launch as teams work the propellant system issue at Launch Complex 41. Liftoff is now set for no earlier than 4:04 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7.
—
Update (7:15 p.m. ET Dec. 4):United Launch Alliance has delayed this mission to no earlier than 4:04 a.m. ET Monday, Dec. 6, due to a leak discovered in the propellant storage system at Launch Complex 41. Teams will have a two-hour window to launch.
—
A nearly 200-foot Atlas V rocket rolled to its pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Friday afternoon, putting the most powerful configuration of the vehicle on course for launch this weekend.
Five add-on solid rocket boosters gleamed in the afternoon sunlight as United Launch Alliance teams guided the rocket over its third-of-a-mile trek from Launch Complex 41’s Vertical Integration Facility to the pad. At liftoff, currently set for a two-hour window that opens at 4:04 a.m. Sunday, Atlas V’s RD-180 main engine and five SRBs will produce nearly 2.4 million pounds of thrust to vault off the pad.
Space Force weather forecasters on Friday said conditions for liftoff should be excellent at 90% “go.” The less-than-likely possibility of cumulus clouds forming around LC-41 was noted as the only concern.
Temperatures at the time of liftoff, meanwhile, should be a bit warmer than other mornings this week: 65 to 67 degrees.
Packed into Atlas V’s payload fairing will be the Space Force’s Space Test Program-3 mission, or STP-3, which features payloads from several organizations. The main payload, STPSat-6, is essentially operating as the platform to carry the following hardware:
More:Here’s what it takes to transport an NOAA satellite to from Colorado to Florida
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System-3, or SBARS-3. The roughly one-foot-wide payload developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory will help with the detection of nuclear detonations.
NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) experiment, which will test the ability to transmit data via lasers. Laser-based communications systems are able to handle more data than traditional radio-based options.
Several additional payloads owned by the Department of Defense will also provide insights into space weather, such as solar flares, and situational awareness, according to ULA.
Compared to more “routine” launches, Sunday’s STP-3 mission is already unique thanks to the variety of payloads. But how they get to geosynchronous orbit some 22,200 miles above the equator – and how long it takes to get there – will also be quite different.
“This is a highly complex orbital insertion that requires three Centaur (upper stage) burns and precise navigation, a capability unique to the Atlas V,” Gary Wentz, ULA’s vice president of government and commercial programs, said in a Thursday statement. “This is our longest mission to date at seven hours and 10 minutes until final spacecraft separation.”
Spectators heading outside to watch Atlas V should note the trajectory for Sunday’s mission is a bit different – after liftoff, the rocket will fly straight out toward the east rather than what’s usually a northeastern trajectory. The crisp, cool morning air should make for above average visibility, too.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Contact Emre Kelly at [email protected] or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.
Colorado’s elected leaders are pointing to former president Trump’s recent comment about Space Command as a reason to reconsider making Alabama its permanent home.
This week Trump told the syndicated radio show “Rick&Bubba” that he alone made the last-minute decision to move the Command headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama.
“Space Force – I sent to Alabama,” said Trump, according to the news site AL.com. “I hope you know that. (They) said they were looking for a home and I single-handedly said ‘let’s go to Alabama.’ They wanted it. I said, ‘let’s go to Alabama. I love Alabama.’”
While Trump referred to ‘Space Force’, what is actually going to Alabama is Space Command, which is currently temporarily housed in Colorado Springs. Space Force, the newest branch of the military, is based at the Pentagon.
“Former President Trump has admitted what we already knew: that he made a strictly political decision to move Space Command and completely disregarded both critical national security and budgetary considerations,” said Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper in an emailed statement. “This is exactly why we’ve called for a review and reconsideration of the decision. We look forward to the Air Force doing just that — looking at what is best for our national security — and making sure Space Command is located where it belongs, in Colorado Springs.”
Senator Michael Bennet also criticized the comments and said they showed the need to investigate the selection process.
Colorado was one of several potential permanent homes in the running when the Air Force announced it had chosen Huntsville, just days before Trump left office. According to Air Force documents obtained by Al.com, Alabama bested its competitors on most of the selection criteria.
That decision is currently under review, both by the Government Accountability Office and the Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General. And Colorado’s leaders continue to lobby the Biden Administration to revisit the selection.
“Colorado is the natural home for Space Command,” said Gov. Polis and Lt. Governor Primavera in a joint statement Friday. “These callous comments fly in the face of Coloradans, military families, and those who have worked to cultivate our aerospace ecosystem that is suited to guarantee the operational success of U.S. Space Command and deliver the best value to taxpayers … it’s clear that the former President – now through his own admission – made this misguided decision for political or personal purposes.”
The former president holds a rally in Alabama Saturday evening.
Space Systems Command created a Space Systems Integration Office led by former launch enterprise director Claire Leon
CHANTILLY, Va. — Claire Leon, a former Boeing executive who previously led the national security space launch program, is now in charge of a new office that will coordinate military space programs across multiple organizations.
Leon was named director of the Space Systems Command’s Space Systems Integration Office. Hiring Leon to lead this new office is a “huge win for SSC,” Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein said Feb. 23 at the National Security Space Association’s Defense and Intelligence Space Conference.
Guetlein, commander of Space Systems Command, is a former deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office and has been in charge of SSC since August. The command is a massive organization with an $11 billion annual budget and nearly 10,000 personnel.
A key goal of SSC is to accelerate the pace of procurement programs so technologies get “into the hands of warfighters” sooner rather than later, Guetlein said. One of the challenges is that space programs have stakeholders across multiple agencies in the Space Force, the Air Force and the Department of Defense. SSC also wants to integrate allied nations’ space technologies into U.S. programs.
What is needed is “unity of effort” so space programs move in the same direction and don’t get bogged down in analysis, reviews and bureaucratic in-fighting, said Guetlein.
Leon’s job will require coordinating projects not just within SSC, but across the entire space enterprise, he said. “Her job is to do horizontal integration across systems to make sure that we’re actually delivering capabilities” rather than just hardware.
The systems integration office will have a broad portfolio that is still being defined, Guetlein said. “I think we’re going to get an enormous amount of lift at that organization. That’s something we have never had in the past, somebody looking across the horizon.”
An effort to improve coordination across space organizations started two years ago when the Space Force stood up a “program integration council” that includes the Space Systems Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Missile Defense Agency, the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, the Space Development Agency and the Space Warfighting Analysis Center.
“Unity of effort was a foreign concept to us at the time,” said Guetlein, noting that military organizations have a hard time with horizontal integration. “We are classically trained. The military is classically trained on unity of command,” he said. “I can look up above me to understand who’s in charge.”
The problem in acquisitions is that they are spread across multiple organizational boundaries. The coordination done via the council “has been going extremely well,” he said. “We meet once a month. We have already been talking about data standards.”
The first major initiative handled by the council is how to integrate missile warning and missile tracking satellites overseen by different agencies. “I have never seen greater collaboration amongst those organizations in my career prior to standing up a program integration council,” said Guetlein.
“We’ve got to keep that dialogue going,” he added. “When we talk about architectures, it really comes down to how do I integrate, how do I network? How do I better get data from point A to point B, and make maximum use of that data?”
‘Getting after the threat’
Guetlein said he is pushing the message across the SSC workforce that their focus has to be on “getting after the threat” posed by Russia and China. These nations’ anti-satellite weapons are a “massive threat to our way of life,” he said. “And we are behind the power curve in delivering capability” to counter those threats.
Because of the lengthy DoD budget cycles and requirements approval process, new capabilities can’t happen overnight, so Guetlein set a 2026 goal for SSC to deliver technologies that will make U.S. satellites more resilient to attacks.
“The only way we’re gonna get this done by 2026 is by maximizing the capability that we already have today,” said Guetlein. “That means we got to squeeze every bit of juice out of the systems that we have today,” he said.
“That means I’m going to be asking for a heck of a lot more heroics from our sustainers. I’m going to be asking for commercial services. I’m going to be looking at our allies to say hey, what can you bring to the fight? How can I better integrate what I already have?”
A Space Force captain traveling with their spouse stood stunned at the Spirit Airlines ticket counter this past October hoping to take advantage of the company’s waived baggage fees for active-duty service members.
But there was a problem: The Spirit employee didn’t believe the Space Force exists.
The officer showed a military-issued ID card, pulled up the official website on their phone and explained the recent history of the Space Force. The desk attendant believed the service member was no longer active in the Air Force, couldn’t comprehend the existence of the new branch and didn’t want to issue the discount.
“In the moment, I was flabbergasted,” said the officer, who spoke to Military.com on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal by Space Force superiors. “We tried to take it on methodically and convince him that the Space Force was real.”
It wasn’t until a Spirit supervisor got involved that the Guardian finally received the discount and the couple went on their way without paying the baggage fees. A few days later, the Space Force officer received an emailed apology from the airline, which was reviewed by Military.com.
The incident illustrated what many Guardians have found all too familiar: a public that doesn’t understand America’s newest military branch or believes it’s just a tepidly reviewed Netflix series.
It’s been two years since former President Donald Trump signed a defense policy bill and created the United States Space Force, a separate service branch that is under the Department of the Air Force. But Guardians have taken to social media and told Military.com about how civilians seem befuddled by the concept of the new branch.
And while the Space Force’s mission — to protect and defend the massive U.S. satellite fleet — is crucial in everything from the country’s reliance on GPS to detecting abnormalities in the Earth’s orbit, many in the general public haven’t grasped it.
Conor William Deans, a Space Force ROTC cadet at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, is the first student from the historic military college to accept a commission for the branch.
One day, he was sitting at a burger restaurant with his fellow cadets when a patron stopped by the table and asked them which branch of the military they planned on joining.
Deans proudly told the man he was joining the Space Force.
“‘Space Force? Is that real?'” Deans recalled the man asking. “I tried to explain to him what it was, but he seemed even more confused.”
Deans said he was encouraged to join the Space Force in 2019 when Gen. John Raymond, then with the Air Force, came to campus to talk about his military career. When Raymond became the first chief of space operations, The Citadel cadet said he wanted to be a part of history.
But he said the public has been slow to catch on to the role of the new branch.
“In a lot of ways, it’s still lumped in with the Air Force,” Deans said. “It’s still new and hasn’t expanded its own culture yet, but I think that’ll grow and change.”
Some recent comments from senior military leaders have muddled the relationship between the Air Force and the Space Force.
Earlier this month, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall spoke about the relationship between the branches at a Center for a New American Security virtual event Jan. 19.
“We want the Space Force to be an independent, separate service,” Kendall said. “But we also want it to stay as tightly coupled to the Air Force and the Department of the Air Force as it’s necessary for it to be a success.”
Some Guardians complained about Kendall’s comment on social media and said they want the Space Force’s top leadership to help shape a distinct identity for the service to the general public.
Raymond, speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event also on Jan.19, said the Space Force can’t become just a carbon copy of the Air Force.
“If we go into this and just iterate our way down the path and become nothing more than an Air Force, changes a little bit here and there, we’ve missed a huge opportunity,” Raymond said.
Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies, said many Americans don’t know what the military does, let alone the semantics of the service branches.
But he added that there needs to be a concerted effort from Space Force leadership to make their mission explicitly clear to the public.
“Space Force needs to make an internal culture that is distinctive from the Air Force,” Harrison said. “They need to separate themselves from NASA and from the Netflix parody and communicate, ‘This is what we do.'”
Space Force Col. Matthew Morand, an officer who runs the branch’s ROTC program at The Citadel, said many of his friends and family were confused, too, when he transferred from the Air Force.
“I’ve had people ask me while I’m standing there in my military uniform, ‘Is Space Force a real thing?'” Morand said. “A lot of folks don’t understand what we do, and there aren’t many of us. We’re tiny.”
The Space Force currently has around 6,800 Guardians and 6,700 civilian employees. By comparison, the Air Force has around 650,000 personnel.
The service began transferring members from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, after focusing the first year on transfers from the Air Force.
“We’re going to be tied to the hip with the Air Force for some time,” Morand said. “But culture takes time, and we’re working on that culture.”
Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, the Space Force’s highest noncommissioned officer, told Military.com in an interview that, while many in the public sphere may not know what the branch does, he believes the mission is important and hopes that, with time, it will change.
“I would say the awareness is growing all the time, and that makes me really happy,” Towberman said. “What I see in the Space Force, specifically, is this slow evolution of this really special thing that we’re trying to do.”
— Thomas Novelly can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.
Related: ‘Happy Birthday, Guardians’: Space Force Celebrates Its Second Birthday
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University, known as “the cradle of astronauts,” will now be a nurturing ground for the U.S. Space Force — the newest military branch.
Purdue President Mitch Daniels Wednesday joined Gen. David “DT” Thompson, vice chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, to announce a new agreement that would extend the university’s legacy in space.
Daniels heralded the university’s rich history of space contribution, through specialized academics and its alumni, as an obvious reason for Purdue’s participation in the U.S. Space Force.
“The U.S. Space Force is a testament that this nation has put in place assets that not only protect us,” said Daniels, “but also benefit our lives.”
The U.S. Space Force became the sixth branch of the armed forces, established Dec. 20, 2019, under the Trump Administration.
By signing the agreement, during an event held outdoors on the steps of Hovde Hall, the Space Force will use university research and innovation while investing in scholarships for qualified students interested in such a pursuit.
“The terms basically talk about both Purdue and the Space Force developing mutually additional programs in specific areas,” said Thompson, who holds a master’s degree in engineering from Purdue. “The first is, the Space Force commits to enhancing participation in what has been the Air Force ROTC program.
‘Boiler up!’:Sirisha Bandla brought Purdue flag aboard Virgin Galactic spaceflight
“The ROTC program is building a space-specific curriculum, and we will provide additional officers and leaders for that program, and we will provide additional scholarships and additional opportunities for ROTC members from Purdue University to join the space program,” Thompson said.
“We have very specific and select needs for those leaders,” Thompson said, “and Purdue is going to provide additional resources.”
The second piece of the agreement involves the Space Force partnering closely through the branch’s chief scientists for research operations with Purdue, Thompson said.
“Purdue has a long history of research, space-related research we’ve provided through the Air Force in the past, we’ve provided through NASA,” Thompson added. “We are going to grow first of all the dollars and the topics of research interest for Purdue University and ask back that we be allowed to provide our own researchers to come to advance those initiatives.”
Thompson did not put a dollar amount on the agreement but said that the military would invest in those ROTC members through scholarships.
“Purdue has on the other side of that,” Thompson said, “offered through its schools and through things like the Purdue Military Research Institute, their commitment to grow those programs and grow the infrastructure that would allow us to do that.”
Purdue, deemed “the cradle of astronauts” because of the number of alumni who’ve traveled into space, joined universities across the country committing to such an agreement with the U.S. Space Force. The University of North Dakota became the first institution to join the branch’s efforts.
“The Space Force faces some of the toughest challenges in engineering, science, and technology,” Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, said Aug. 9 in Grand Forks, ND, according to a release.
“Space is hard. We need our nation’s brightest minds working to help us tackle these problems. That is why we have established the University Partnership Program to harness the innovation at universities across our country. Today, I’m excited to welcome the University of North Dakota as our first official UPP member, with ten more schools to follow in the coming months.,” Raymond stated in the news release last month.
According to the branch’s website, the universities on track to join the partnership in fiscal year 2021 are:
University of North Dakota
Georgia Institute of Technology
Howard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Purdue University
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado Springs
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at El Paso
University of Southern California
In conjunction with the signing ceremony in Grand Forks, the military cited in a release the program’s four main goals:
Establish opportunities for world-class research, advanced academic degrees, and workforce and leadership development for U.S. Space Force Guardians
Identify and pursue research areas of mutual interest with member universities, individually and collectively
Establish scholarship, internship and mentorship opportunities for university students and ROTC cadets
Recruit and develop diverse officer, enlisted, and civilian Guardians with a particular focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics
Deanna Watson is the executive editor at the Journal & Courier. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @deannawatson66.