WASHINGTON – The US Air Force in early 2023 dropped the idea of creating a “commercial space station” that would allow the military to host autonomous satellites during wartime.
Gen. Michael Guetlein, deputy director of space operations, said the Space Force is in the middle of finding a way to establish such a commercial space, which will require complex negotiations with satellite operators to expedite binding agreements.
Speaking April 24 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Guetlein said the military’s reliance on private sector contractors during past wars underscores the historical significance of its relationship with industry, and that power should extend to the operation of the site by the storage area of the considered business.
“If you look at our industrial partners from the Civil War onward, our industrial partners have always been there. And they’ve been the ones who’ve pulled us out of the fire when the war was tough. They’ve made sure that we have all the resources we need to help take care of our country when we go forward,” Guetlein said.
“So it is not a new lesson that we are learning. But it’s a very strong study in terms of space,” he added.
CASR program
Guetlein was an early proponent of what the Space Force calls the “Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve,” or CASR.
He said efforts to implement CASR are ongoing, fueled by the realization that when the United States military goes to war, the commercial satellites they use for communications, surveillance or other purposes others are considered acceptable military targets.
“Russia has said that anyone in space will be targeted,” Guetlein said. “So I can no longer say that it is a business asset. Don’t touch it. It is an international property. Don’t touch it. It is a DoD asset. Don’t touch it. We will all be working in the same area fighting for the same assets, following the same threats. ”
And if that becomes the new reality, he added, “then we can learn to work together.”
CASR is modeled after existing programs such as the Civil Reserve Air Fleet and the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement that provide US access to commercial aviation and the ability to shut down private companies. .
The Space Force must now find agreements with industry to ensure that their services are available and accessible to the Defense Department, Guetlein said.
China’s military combined with a commercial space
The Pentagon now views China as its most capable adversary, with an arsenal of space weapons that would be used to destroy, undermine or destroy US space assets. “They have a goal of denying our ability to use space, so that makes it a real threat that we’re concerned about,” Guetlein said.
Another concern of the Pentagon is that China’s state-run space agency has close ties to the country’s commercial space companies.
Since 2016, as the Chinese reorganized their military organizations to increase their operations in space, China has deployed 950 satellites, a DoD intelligence official told reporters at the Pentagon on April 22. Those are the platforms dedicated ISR” for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
For the US military, creating a commercial reserve would ensure US access to space-based services while encouraging more private investment, officials have argued. But they also know that for commercial firms, signing such agreements with the US government can complicate the ability of satellite operators to sell worldwide if their ships are prioritized for the Pentagon.
Saltzman supports commercial storage
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Gen. Chance Saltzman, area operations manager, provided support for the CASR program.
“It’s about how quickly we can scale up and increase our capacity in times of crisis or conflict,” he told lawmakers. “A lot of work before that, the planning of how we are going to integrate, the contract work that needs to be done with the companies to make sure that we are expected to fulfill the urgency of the demand is what is at the heart of the program. of CASR.”
“We have to do the work ahead of time, we are responsible for the plans, we see what the needs are, whether those needs can be met by the commercial industry, and then we start talking about the contract negotiations before we sign. contract as we are ready and willing to deploy that excess capacity when we need it. ”
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