New office keeps space moving

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Klayton Bobsein
  • Space Development and Test Wing
High above the Earth, a small satellite shifts into view of the battlefield as the night patrol moves into the sector. Captain Jones types in the coordinates on a handheld tablet computer, and the command is transmitted to the satellite.

The satellite slews into position, pointing its telescope across the surface of the Earth, collecting images of the landscape. As the small spacecraft moves across the horizon it points its antennae toward Sergeant Smith's unit and beams pictures of the enemy forces massed across the ridgeline to his handheld computer.

This story is not as far fetched as it might seem because on May 21, the Department of Defense stood up the Operationally Responsive Space Office here.

According to the ORS Initial Concept of Operations signed May 7 by Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, commander, U.S. Strategic Command, Offut AFB, Neb., ORS is the "assured space power focused on the timely satisfaction of Joint Force Commanders' needs."

ORS will meet three desires for the Strategic Command commander:

· First, to rapidly exploit and infuse space technical or operational innovations;

· Second, to rapidly adapt or augment existing space capabilities when needed to expand operational capability; and

· Third, to rapidly reconstitute critical space capabilities to preserve operational capability.

The ORS director will be Col. Kevin McLaughlin, who is also the Space Development and Test Wing commander.

According to Colonel McLaughlin, ORS is a concept aimed at making the entire national security space enterprise community better. It does not replace or obviate the need for any element of the DOD space establishment. Instead it will complement ongoing efforts to improve the responsiveness and effectiveness of existing space capabilities and to augment or replace vital capabilities needed by the combat commander.

"The ORS program will plug the seams of the enterprise in order to get the right capability to the warfighter," Colonel McLaughlin stated.

Space technology is increasingly becoming a part of American society like satellite radio, GPS and satellite TV. All of these technologies use satellites to get and provide information back to the user.

"Today, the global economy is vitally dependent on space assets," Colonel McLaughlin said.

Space capabilities are also integral to U.S. warfighting capabilities. Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have demonstrated that military forces derive great advantage from the ability to leverage space effects across all elements of national security.

With threats to U.S. satellite systems on the rise - such as the Chinese demonstration in January - the ability to use U.S. space assets during a crisis could be hindered. ORS will play a role in making sure that U.S. space systems are able to continually supply the warfighter with current information.

ORS will focus on three key mission areas: space force enhancement, space control and space support.

Within space force enhancement, ORS will provide responsive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and communication capabilities. Battlefields of today and tomorrow require up-to-date information about the enemy and their movements on a timely basis. By getting the needed space assets to combatant commanders in a timely manner, the warfighter will have increased flexibility and the information needed to perform the mission.

For space control, ORS will enhance space situational awareness. Space situational awareness means knowing the location of every object orbiting the Earth - active or inactive, big or small - and knowing why it is there, what it is doing now and what it will be doing in the future.

Space support enables the timely execution of the previous mission areas. ORS will focus on providing rapid launch capabilities including launch vehicles with launch support, command and control, tactics, techniques and procedures in order to produce responsive on-orbit operations.

For the warfighter, the situation on the ground will dictate the need for a specific type of satellite or satellite system. ORS satellites are intended to be focused on the tactical needs of the warfighter.

Col. Richard White, director of developmental planning at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., summed it up this way at the recent Responsive Space Conference, "Warfighters are the final judges of ORS product effectiveness."