As the Chief Operations Officer, Lt Gen Saltzman has overall responsibility for operations, intelligence, sustainment, cyber, and nuclear operations of the U.S. Space Force. Prior to his current role, he most recently served as the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Central Command, and Deputy Combined Force Air Component Commander of U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia.

During the event, Lt Gen Saltzman reflected on the Space Force’s second year accomplishments, examined how the U.S. should address current adversarial efforts in the space domain, and discussed why the U.S. government must begin leveraging commercial satellite architectures and capabilities for its military missions.

Two years of accomplishments

On December 20, 2021, the U.S. Space Force celebrated its second birthday, and to begin the forum, Lt Gen Saltzman opened with an enthusiastic discussion about the major accomplishments Space Force made in its two years of operations.

He prefaced the discussion by setting the stage and reminding the audience that 2021 witnessed a lot of adversarial activity in the space domain. He explained that U.S. adversaries took worryingly bold actions in space this past year, specifically referring to Russia’s testing of anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles and China’s hypersonic missile test. “These are dynamic times in the space security environment, so we need the Space Force to be going fast,” said Saltzman.

And, indeed, 2021 was a fast-growing year for Space Force, beginning with its intelligence directorate’s induction as the 18^th member of the intelligence community (IC).

“Leah Lauderback is the head of our intelligence community apparatus here and she’s just doing a fantastic job,” said Lt Gen Saltzman. “And the level of support that I’m able to give to the Pentagon based on that foundational intelligence that’s focused on space threats has just been remarkable.”

Lt Gen Saltzman also highlighted that in 2021 the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force signed an organizational change request, establishing the first service components of the Space Force’s combatant commands in Europe, the Pacific, the Middle East, and South Korea.

Last year, Space Force also laid down the groundwork for nearly 700 interservice transfers, which Saltzman said is much more challenging than one would assume. “While you think they just raise their hand, swear the oath to the Space Force, and change uniforms, as you all know it’s a little more complicated than that.” Lt Gen Saltzman explained that ensuring seamless interservice transitions that don’t create any adverse effects on new Guardians has been a lot of work, which he is extremely proud of.

This growth and the major accomplishments couldn’t come at a better time, as America’s adversaries become increasingly active and bold in space.

Deterring the adversary

During the discussion, Lt Gen Saltzman highlighted some of the recent adversarial efforts that occurred in the space domain in 2021, specifically Russia’s successful ASAT missile test and the implications the test has on the country’s space posture.

Lt Gen Saltzman declared that the ASAT test was an extremely “irresponsible” and “hazardous” act, and that the space debris that resulted from Russia destroying its defunct, Soviet-era satellite will pose kinetic threats for years to come.

“We are now spending a tremendous amount of our time, energy, and capacity to characterize the nature of that debris field,” explained Lt Gen Saltzman. “Because at a minimum, we know that it poses a hazard to the astronauts on the ISS. And it’s one of our basic responsibilities to make sure that we characterize all of the objects that are on orbit, to protect not just humankind up there on the ISS, but all of these very expensive, exquisite satellites that we spend blood, sweat, tears, energy, and national treasure to put into orbit and perform some remarkable services for us.”

In order to establish stability and a framework of accountability in the domain, Lt Gen Saltzman referred to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s tenants on responsible behavior in space as one of the gold standards that should be followed in order to deter this type of dangerous behavior.

“If it’s the Wild Wild West out there in space, then it’s hard to hold people responsible for any kind of behavior, because you haven’t really defined what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable,” explained Saltzman. “I don’t think we should underestimate how important setting the framework for what responsible behavior in space looks like.”

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that another component of deterrence would be ensuring that the U.S. has the capability and the capacity from the ground – and space – to rapidly characterize new space debris fields.

“Although this one was an ASAT test, there are other times when two objects just run into each other and create debris field,” explained Lt Gen Saltzman. “Debris generating events can occur by accident as much as it can occur deliberately. And we have to have that capacity to rapidly characterize, figure out where those orbits are, and then start doing projections about potential hazards those new objects that are created on orbit could cause to manned spaceflight, as well as other capabilities.”

Leveraging commercial space

When it pertains to the capabilities that the U.S. Space Force will need in the future, Lt Gen Saltzman explained that satellite architecture currently in space is not prepared and readied for combat capability and capacity.

“The architecture that we have was largely designed for a benign environment,” said Lt Gen Saltzman. “And we just didn’t talk about combat attributes or combat attrition. We didn’t talk about the kinds of adversarial behavior that we would have to account for with the Force design.”

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that the original goal of the U.S.’ current space and satellite architecture was originally focused on “getting the most out of the capabilities as possible,” not on being able to support a warfighting architecture.

According to Lt Gen Saltzman, in order to get the warfighting capabilities necessary to protect U.S. assets from space, there must be a shift in how the U.S. military acquires the required capabilities and functions. And one solution that he believes could help remedy this problem is the commercial space industry.

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that there is currently a commercial space boom happening around the world, and that the U.S. government needs to take more advantage of the services and capabilities industry can provide to the military.

“With the technology that’s being employed, I think we’re going to be able to leverage commercial capabilities to accomplish a subset of our missions,” explained Lt Gen Saltzman. “And as we distribute those up, not only does it free up resources for us, but it creates a more resilient architecture because of the number of different places and pathways where we can get the information we need.”

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that when it comes to the grand design of the Space Force, it’s not just what the branch builds, but also what the branch buys to ensure it has the necessary resources at the right time and space. And Lt Gen Saltzman did admit that it may take time to flesh out all these aspects of the Force’s design.

“Some of these things take a while to get on orbit and put in place,” said Lt Gen Saltzman. “But, you know, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. That’s the path of the journey we’re on.”

Click the video below to watch the Spacepower Forum in its entirety.

The post Happy birthday, Space Force! Lt Gen B. Chance Saltzman reflects on the branch’s second year in operation appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

Then, there are those that see a massive influx of new satellites and the introduction of proposed “kilofleets” at LEO and see a problem. They may realize that – with many new satellites being launched – the potential for collisions that create harmful space debris increases exponentially.

These individuals may be thought of as pessimists, but they’re most likely just realists – seeing the obvious truth that more means more, and increased objects and spacecraft traveling through space is a recipe for those objects to come into contact with each other.

With “kilofleets” like the SpaceX Starlink fleet that is expected to be comprised of satellites that number in the tens of thousands – and other large LEO fleets on the way – it’s time for the industry and government to start giving real thought to the issue of space debris and satellite collisions. It’s also time to start thinking about how large numbers of new objects in space influence other space activities – such as the availability of launch windows.

Included in this discussion should not only be conversations about mitigating the generation of future space debris – but also cleaning space of the debris that already exists to make it safer for all satellite and launch operators. That discussion also has to include who is responsible for collisions, and just what should commercial operators be required to do to protect their space assets.

But before we jump into those difficult topics, let’s explore the current state of space debris at LEO.

Disposable satellites in a congested space
To some members of the space industry, early cubesats were thought of as space trash. However – much like a message in a bottle can be seen as communication by some, and as litter by others – some in the satellite industry and academia saw early cubesats as precursors to an important and innovative new space technology.

As technology has miniaturized, small satellites – even CubeSats – are now being built, launched, and operated that provide value-added services sufficient to close a business case.  However, many of the early cubesats that remain – and some that are still being built – are considered disposable by those that built and launched them.

The increased numbers of satellites in LEO will eventually become a problem as soon as one or two major collisions significantly contaminate the orbit. And, as long as LEO satellites are viewed as disposable, this risk will continue to build.

“Space has already become a warfighting domain, and today’s coalition governments and military forces don’t need the added threat to their space assets and spacecraft that is posed by space debris.”

Luckily, this is a risk that is being somewhat mitigated by standardized processes and advancement in small satellites – which has resulted in higher satellite reliability.  It’s also a trend that can be mitigated by launching fleets of small satellites into a test orbit and designing them to decay in orbit should they enter orbit dead on arrival.

By launching these satellites into test orbits before relocating working satellites into LEO orbit, some of the space debris can be mitigated. But not every actor in space will be willing to play by these rules.

So, while the increased quality and reliability of small satellites – and the use of test orbits – could help to mitigate the creation of new space debris, it’s foolish to think that no new space debris will be created. And there is already space debris existing in orbit that could cause collisions – resulting in even more debris. So, what do we do about it?

Policy, technology, and cooperation
As I stated earlier, it’s foolish to think that there won’t be more space debris created in today’s congested space domain. This makes it increasingly important to try and eliminate what is already there. And that’s something that coalition governments should be talking about as a top priority for the near future.

Space has already become a warfighting domain, and today’s coalition governments and military forces don’t need the added threat to their space assets and spacecraft that is posed by space debris. But cleaning existing debris is something that will most likely have to fall to government organizations, as commercial providers simply don’t have the economic incentive to lead the charge.

Currently, it’s less expensive for commercial operators to build redundancy into satellites in anticipation of a potential collision with other satellites and space debris. It’s also less expensive to insure their satellites against collision. If insurance and redundant design are cheaper than actively working to increase orbital health through cleaning, industry simply isn’t going to take that step unless mandated.

The U.S. government is already working to mandate responsible retirement plans for satellites nearing their end-of-life. It’s working to establish treaties and agreements with other nations to be responsible actors in space. It’s also working to mandate commercial satellite operators to limit the creation of future space debris. But that may not be enough.

“Currently, it’s less expensive for commercial operators to build redundancy into satellites in anticipation of a potential collision with other satellites and space debris. It’s also less expensive to insure their satellites against collision.”

Actively working to remove existing debris is an essential step, and it’s one that governments will most likely have to take.

Another important step involves increasing situational awareness in space. This is something that commercial operators and the U.S. government are already pursuing. Today’s commercial operators – including SES – are actively working with both the Space Data Association and the U.S. Air Force Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) to identify potential conjunctions, evaluate the level of risk and take appropriate action when necessary to increase the separation distance.

However, situational awareness can always improve – become more trusted and more precise – to ensure that information about potential conjunctures and collisions are accurate and actionable.

By taking active steps to clean the space domain of existing debris and working with industry partners to increase the situational awareness and accuracy of the tracking and measurement of space debris, we can ensure that today’s new space age doesn’t end in tragedy, with a new, massive influx of satellites sparking a calamity of collisions.

The post A new space age means more space debris appeared first on SES Space and Defense.