Today, every branch of the U.S. military relies on space in some capacity to carry out its mission. Concurrently, it is becoming more difficult for the U.S. to retain its leadership role among countries that operate satellites and for the country to remain free to operate in space. One of the greatest of the challenges to operation in space that has become increasingly important over the last ten years is that of space situational awareness (SSA). As the number of objects in orbit grows, and as more and more new organizations, both commercial and governmental, operate in space, the problem is only going to become more challenging. In order to continue its primacy in space, the United States must lead the effort to develop a common framework for sharing SSA information with other nations and corporate space operators. This should be a coordinated effort to integrate SSA for U.S. government, allied and partner nation’s governments, and commercial space users. The best way to garner international support for this program is to make it the responsibility of a new international agency for SSA. Current Status of Space Situational Awareness Space Situational Awareness has been defined by General Fogleman (ret.), former Air Force Chief of Staff, as the idea that “the United States of America ought to know any time anybody sends something into space, what it is, what its function will be, and we ought to be able to track that at all times.” Breaking this definition down yields two significant parts: time of launch data and lifecycle monitoring. The focus of this paper will be on lifecycle monitoring. The goal of the U.S. having the ability to independently track every object sent into space at all times is not reasonable. Th... ... middle of paper ... ...ia, U.S. Agree on Space Situational Awareness Cooperation,” Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, 11 Nov 2010. ---. “ESA Seeks To Reinforce Ties With NASA, European Union,” Aviaition Week & Space Technology, 18 Jan 2010, 28. ---. “Milspace Expansion To Be Outlined In New Space Policy,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 26 Apr 2010, 32. US Department of Defense and Director of National Intelligence. National Security Space Strategy Unclassified Summary. Washington, DC, 2011. “USA Moves Ahead with Next-Generation ‘Space Fence’ Tracking,” Defense Industry Daily. 02 Jun 2011, accessed 13 Nov 2011, http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Air-Force-Awards-First-Phase-of-Next-Generation-Space-Fence-05511. Weeden, Brian. “The numbers game: What’s in Earth orbit and how do we know?” The Space Review. July 13, 2009, http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1417/1.
At the moment there is a ton of traffic in space and it is only building as more nations join the space faring ranks.14 This is a concern for every nation in space, as space forces are a foundational part to all military operations.15 Space Command is already a Major Command and it includes cyberspace which shows that it is important.16 With new technologies being developed and space travel becoming popular before the first public trip, it is only a matter of time till something happens and tensions rise.17 It is best to not wait for this to happen to make a change, and create the Space Force sooner rather than later.18 It is time just like when the Air Force was created from the Army Air Core as air power was the future, now space power is the future and it is time for the Space Force.19
NASA Funding The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was booming in the late 1960s because the U.S. invested over 4.5 percent of the Federal Budget (Bolden). Unfortunately, in the recent years, the Government has slashed funding for many of NASA’s projects in an attempt to cut back on the deficit and boost the economy. Despite the plummet in NASA's budget, the program has proved that it's prominence in the U.S., space programs like NASA continue to face difficulty in increasing its funds. Although, NASA leads evidently, the government doesn’t think NASA is worth more than 0.47 percent of the federal budget.
middle of paper ... ...2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. The "NASA History" Congressional Digest 90.7 (2011): 196-224. Academic Search Premier -. Web.
Lowther, Adam and Casey Lucius. "Identifying America's Vital Interests." Space and Defense 7, no. 1 (Winter, 2014): 39-52.
Through this national address Reagan hopes to reach out to the public and encourage them to keep their faith firm in the American space progra...
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joint and National Intelligence Support to Military Operations, Joint Publication 2-01 (Washington, DC: U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, 5 January 2012).pg II-6
“Ready for War.” Intelligence Reports Iss. 131 (Fall 2008). 46-54 SIRS Researcher. Web. 03 Feb. 2011.
NSSS states a few current trends in space as being “congested and contested” (NSSS, 8), which is shaping our space strategic environment as well as fueling debates for space weapons. “Congested” trend refers to the current “60 nations and government consortia that own and operate satellites and the expectation to have 9000 satellite communication transponders in orbit by 2015.
Are we allotting enough funding for aerospace research? At the present time, significant progress in aerospace research will not be made for a long time. It is sad that we don’t place more urgency on such an important field. Yes, there is still research being conducted in the field; however, limited funding prevents significant advancement. The benefits derived from aerospace research should provide enough justification for investing more money in this area. The benefits are not exclusive to sp...
The United States of America is a powerful and well known force throughout the world. It has become a superpower of nations in just about three hundred years, being one of the newest nations in existence today. Its military reaches out into several countries in the globe and holds a presence as a peacekeeper and wielder of democracy. Of the US military’s five branches, the Air Force is the ruler of the skies, keeping control of the earth’s aerospace. Without the Air Force Special Operations, the military could not complete operations as effectively or efficiently as it potentially could. The United States Air Force is a key part of America’s mission to spread and assist democracy throughout the world.
Dyson, Marianne J. Space and Astronomy: Decade by Decade. New York: Facts on File, 2007. 14+. Print.
Defense spending is increasing across the board globally and, even though it is years out, the world is on the verge of the next generation “space race”. In 2015, global defense spending amounted to $1.676 trillion (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2016). This is broken up amongst countries worldwide; however, the opportunities for growth are prevalent and never ending. In recent news, SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk have been dominating the topic of aerospace in divulging its plans for getting human life to Mars. However, Boeing has announced they plan to beat SpaceX in the race to the red planet (F, 2016). Boeing has decades more experience than the newer company, SpaceX, and has all the opportunity to beat them to Mars and establish itself as the company to first bring human life
middle of paper ... ... NASA Marshall. Marshall: Launching the Future of Science and Exploration. 15 February 2010 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html>. NASA Public Affairs.
Space has always been a pivotal and utmost important subject for many years. In the past, scientists have made monumental advances in this field such as sending people into orbit and landing a man on the moon. Of course, this has only barely been explored and we still have a lot more to see of the ever-vast outer space. One of the most significant topics of all of science has only been touched and there’s still more to come.
It is a wonder to marvel about how much debris man has created over the span of approximately 50 years. Sadly, this is nothing new on our planet. However, little is known, or at least in regards to public awareness, about the celestial landfill that man has created since the early days of the Space Race involving the Russian launching of Sputnik. Ever since then, the repercussions of the US versus Russia mechanized frenzy have snowballed into an estimated 6,600 satellites being launched, in addition to 1,000 that are still active now.