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The buzz over a possible missile warning backup
April 1st, 2009 | National Space Symposium | Posted by Ben Iannotta
Lockheed Martin technicians prepare to test the first SBIRS geosynchronous satellite.
The budding U.S. proposal to quickly build a new missile-warning satellite or satellites received a brief mention from the Air Force’s satellite acquisition chief, and is likely to test the improved satellite acquisition strategy he laid out.
Lt. Gen. John “Tom” Sheridan said his more-disciplined approach to satellite development would apply to “conceptual activities that we’re working on…such as IRAS that we’ve talked about here in the halls.”
He was referring to the Infrared Augmentation Satellite, which is the latest name for a proposed program to build a backup missile warning satellite or satellites that would be rushed into orbit.
If it works, IRAS could ease the white knuckles Air Force officials surely must have over the state of today’s Defense Support Program constellation, especially given the North Korean and Iranian missile programs. The newest and last of the existingU.S. infrared satellites has gone adrift in orbit. Meanwhile, officials are watching to see if technical glitches have been resolved in construction of the new Space-based Infrared System satellites, which are designed to replace the almost four-decades-old Defense Support Program constellation.
For one, Sheridan pledged to set a development pace tied to the time-element contained in the requirement underpinning particular programs. “That does not mean at the speed which we acquisition guys think is right. It’s the speed that the war fighter needs our developments,” he said.
Sheridan’s call for more discipline in the requirements process might apply especially to IRAS. “I call this approach, bite off what you can chew. This requires user appetite suppression,” he said. He said compromises would be required all around.
Sheridan also pledged to invest in more research up front. One wonders, though, if there would be time for such research in the case of IRAS. Cobbling a satellite together from existing components might sound straightforward, but rarely is in reality.
Tags: IRAS, missile warning, Sheridan
Space, the chess match
March 31st, 2009 | National Space Symposium | Posted by Ben Iannotta
Futurist Alvin Toffler shares his outlook.
Some panelists here are taking the symposium’s theme, “The next space age,” to heart by offering views on what the new age will look like–others are artfully dodging the question.
Military leaders are being cautious, just as one would expect, and are using words like uncertainty a lot when discussing the future.
Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, joked that his staff “left our crystal back at the office—it’s never your fault when you’re a four star.”
Keith Hall, a Booz Allen Hamilton partner and a former director of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite agency, renewed his call for establishment of an overarching space strategy. He seemed worried that the U.S. might be about to give up its space leadership by staying quiet. “I think we’re at the question of whether or not the United States will remain the world leader in…national security space,” he said.
Futurist Alvin Toffler, who was on the panel with Hall, said it was all but inevitable that the U.S. one day would become one of many countries leading in matters of space.
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a different thing,” he said.
Speaking on another panel, Lt. Gen. John “Tom” Sheridan, sounded like he wasn’t ready to give up the lead.
He predicted space would become “a three dimensional chess match of enormous size and proportion.” Cyberspace will have to be considered together with physical space: “That is what the future holds for us,” he said.
He said U.S. national security space leaders must learn to operate in a “contested environment” much as air and land commanders learned.