And these advancements do not stop at the air domain. According to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, Dr. John Plumb, China is gearing up and developing a wartime space architecture and is tirelessly working towards having the capability to deny U.S. offensive and defensive actions in orbit.

Dr. Plumb recently sat down with Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) during a special Mitchell Institute Schreiver Spacepower Forum, where he discussed China’s pacing threat in the space domain, our nation’s expanding awareness of the threats adversaries pose in space, and how commercial satellite solutions are advancing the military’s mission of deploying a resilient space architecture.

China as a pacing threat
Dr. Plumb made it crystal clear from the start that one of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) primary concerns is keeping pace with the threat China poses in the space domain. And though this adversarial threat is a top concern for the DoD, Dr. Plumb explained it has actually catalyzed a synergy within the Department which is allowing all agencies to push in the same direction as it pertains to protecting U.S. interests in space.

“Where we are now is that the entire government understands the value of space,” said Dr. Plumb. “And the Department and the [Intelligence Community] are really focused together on the threat, which kind of pulls people along.”

Dr. Plumb also pointed out that adversaries like China and Russia have had years to observe how the U.S. military relies heavily on space as a lever arm. And though this type of adversarial reconnaissance and information gathering is not new, Dr. Plumb says that the adversaries’ aggression and pace of technological advancement are new.

“China has really accelerated their space systems…And it’s a wartime architecture…We have to be able to detect and attribute hostile acts in space.” -Dr. John Plumb

“They’ve been working hard on it,” said Dr. Plumb. “We know [China and Russia] have direct-ascent ASAT missiles…and continue to find different ways to try to come after our systems. We have to be ready to defend against that. And I think we’re making some good strides there.”

He explained that to counteract the advances China and Russia are making in the space domain, the DoD must focus on the mission assurance of U.S. space systems. “The warfighter absolutely needs our space systems to be able to fight,” said Dr. Plumb. “So how do we assure those systems? We have two main lines of effort. One is resilience…And the second part is we have to be able to defend our systems against these counter-space threats.”

He then stated that China is currently developing a “wartime architecture.” “And they’re doing it in a much different way,” said Dr. Plumb.

Decades ago when the U.S. began construction on its space architecture, space was primarily viewed as a benign, neutral domain. According to Dr. Plumb, that is no longer the case in today’s environment.

“China has really accelerated their space systems with a massive number of satellites going up every year,” explained Dr. Plumb. “And it’s a wartime architecture…So when we talk about how we’re going to defend U.S. national security interests against both space and counter-space threats… we have to be able to detect and attribute hostile acts in space…You have to know what’s happening in your domain.”

Harnessing industry to produce resiliency
Dr. Plumb told a brief story about how 10 years ago the DoD briefed then-Vice President Biden on how the Department was working towards achieving a resilient architecture. Fast forward a decade later, when the DoD tells now-President Biden that they are working to create a resilient architecture, the President replies that he was told that 10 years ago and that the government “needs to get going.”

One viable solution to advance the mission of deploying a resilient space architecture, according to Dr. Plumb, is the commercial industry. “The explosion of available commercial services for space clearly increases resilience for some mission sets,” explained Dr. Plumb. “SATCOM is a perfect example. There’s a tremendous amount of SATCOM bandwidth available. We can buy that kind of bandwidth…Our resilience plan should include the ability to access different commercially available pieces when needed.”

What Dr. Plumb says is true. The latest next-generation SATCOM technologies emerging out of the commercial satellite industry have proven they can fulfill the DoD’s mission set of achieving resiliency in space. However, if COMSATCOM and MILSATCOM solutions are going to be leveraged in tandem as part of a joint satellite architecture, the military needs a way to see its entire network on a single pane of glass. It also needs the ability to easily and seamlessly move communications and workloads across a multi-band and multi-orbit satellite ecosystem.

“The ICT Portal will be a window that will enable visibility into the network’s capabilities, how it is built, and how it is operating. This will deliver complete resiliency to military networks, and support the DoD’s JADC2 initiative.” -Ram Rao, SES Space & Defense

Solutions like the SES Space & Defense (SESSD) ICT Portal, a recently-released capability that can enable military users to see their entire network – including both space and ground assets – on a single pane of glass, have demonstrated they can support the DoD’s mission of staying ahead of the adversary advances, while also denying their capabilities in the domain. And recent testing with satellite antenna and terminal providers have illustrated the ability to roam seamlessly across a multi-band, multi-orbit satellite architecture.

According to SESSD’s Director of Business Development Engineering, Ram Rao, “The ICT Portal will be a window that will enable visibility into the network’s capabilities, how it is built, and how it is operating,” said Rao. “This will deliver complete resiliency to military networks, and support the DoD’s JADC2 initiative.”

To watch Dr. John Plumb’s interview in full, click the video below:

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Ultimately, as climate change continues to melt polar ice, we’re beginning to see the Arctic as a potential pathway for international trade and other economic interests. But the Arctic is far from benign, uncontested territory. On the other side of the Arctic Ocean lies two of America’s largest adversaries – each of which is investing to strengthen their position in the region.

This is why Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, who leads U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), called the area the nation’s “first line of defense” at last year’s Sea Air Space Conference.

Unfortunately, there is significant investment that needs to be made to prepare our military to defend our strategic interests in this area. We need new ships and ice breakers. We need to retrain troops for the harsh environment. And – most importantly – we need to ensure that the communications infrastructure is in place to deliver the next generation, network-enabled tools that give today’s warfighter a strategic, tactical edge over their adversaries.

And that last area is one in which our military could certainly use some help. According to Jon Bennett of SES Space and Defense, the military’s current communications satellites may not be enough to meet their demands in the Arctic Region.

To learn more about the unique communications requirements of the Arctic Circle, the Government Satellite Report Podcast recently sat down with Jon. During our podcast discussion, Jon talked about why the military’s WGS wideband satellite constellation may not be sufficient to deliver the connectivity and bandwidth necessary for operations in the Arctic Circle, and how commercial satellite capacity could help to bolster what is already available – while also delivering new advanced capabilities to today’s warfighter.

Click the PLAY button below to listen to what Jon had to say:

For additional information on the unique communications challenges facing our military in the Arctic Circle, and the role that satellite can play in connecting warfighters in the region, click HERE.

The post PODCAST: Commercial Connectivity Critical for Communications at the Arctic Circle appeared first on SES Space and Defense.