DOD space chief outlines priorities
CHANTILLY, Va. — Things are going well for the national
security space program, but America needs a roadmap to
ensure future success, the Defense Department’s executive
agent for space said Feb. 12.
Peter B. Teets, undersecretary of the Air Force and
director of the National Reconnaissance Office, discussed
the country’s top national security space priorities at a
media roundtable conference at the NRO headquarters here.
“Any discussion of priorities needs to start with the
notion of ensuring mission success in space operations,”
he said. “Our space assets are now probably more
important to warfighters, more important to our ability
to win the global war on terrorism than they ever have
been.”
According to Teets, there have already been two successful
national security space launches in 2003, with 12 more
scheduled. There was only one last year.
The key to maintaining the schedule, he said, is a viable
fleet of launch vehicles. The United States currently
uses the Atlas V and Delta IV evolved expendable launch
vehicles to boost spacecraft into orbit.
“It’s important to have two EELVs … as independent as
possible so, in the event one of them suffers a launch
failure … (it) won’t bring the … program to a halt
while we get to the root cause, make the fix and get
back into space again,” he said.
While the current vehicles are the best the nation has
ever had, Teets said he is looking for better things to
come.
“If we’re going to have operational, responsive, assured
access to space, we need to (reduce launch preparation)
time from weeks and months down to hours and days,” he
said.
To accomplish that goal, Teets said he is expecting to see
smaller launch vehicles than can be erected on the launch
pad, bolted to a spacecraft and fueled by a tanker truck.
Other goals on the agenda include developing a cadre of
space professionals, integrating space capabilities for
warfighting and intelligence, getting space acquisition
programs back on track and refocusing on science and
technology programs.
“Breakthrough technologies are going to allow us to
collect our adversaries’ secrets without their knowing
they’re being collected,” Teets said. “If we’re going
to win this global war on terrorism, we’re going to
have to get ourselves in position where we can collect
information about (terrorist groups). We need to find
out where they are, what they’re thinking (and) what
they’re plotting.”
Equally important, he said, is enhancing the nation’s
space control capability.
“Our space systems give us a very significant capability
advantage,” Teets said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that
our adversaries have taken note of that, so it’s going to
be important for us to put meaningful resources against,
first of all, space situation awareness.”
According to the undersecretary, the first step in defending
America’s space assets is knowing more about what else is up
there.
“We track objects, but we don’t know an awful lot about what
all those objects may be,” he said. “We need to get a better
handle on (that), then we need to implement some defensive
measures.”
Teets said the first space situational awareness measures
would include attack-warning sensors, but the nation needs
to pursue offensive space capabilities as well.
“The fact is that we’re going to want to, if necessary, deny
an adversary their use of space,” he said. “Offensive space
capability is something I think we need to start to work on.”
IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www.af.mil/photos/images/030212-F-2615E-004.jpg (148KB)]
Undersecretary of the Air Force Peter B. Teets answers
questions during a media round table at the National
Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Va., on Feb. 12. Teets
discussed the 2003 National Security Space top priorities.
(Photo by Master Sgt. Scott Elliott)
