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[ctg]

The Space Force just took a big step from sci-fi-sounding dream toward reality.

President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive-4 (SPD-4) today (Feb. 19), ordering the Pentagon to establish the Space Force as the sixth branch of the United States military, to go along with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

But the Space Force still has a big hoop to jump through: Congress must approve the creation of any new military branch.

The main goal of the Space Force is to secure and extend American dominance of the space domain, Trump and other White House officials have said. Such reasoning has drawn opposition from various quarters.

https://www.space.com/president-trump-space-force-directive.html

The Space Force would initially reside within the Department of the Air Force, much as the Marine Corps is part of the U.S. Navy.

“If enacted, it will be our responsibility to deter and defeat threats in space through the U.S. Space Force, which will organize, train, and equip military space forces,” Air Force officials told Space.com in an emailed statement. “It will be our obligation to ensure unfettered access to, and freedom to operate in space, and to provide vital capabilities to joint and coalition forces.”

But Trump administration officials have said they eventually aim to push the Space Force out from under the Air Force's wings and make it a stand-alone organization.

President Trump first teased the idea of a Space Force in March 2018, in comments that made it seem like he might have been joking. But the president signed an executive order directing the creation of the new branch that June.

Many details about the Space Force — exactly how much it might cost, for example — remain unclear.

As its name suggests, SPD-4 is President Trump's fourth space policy directive. The first SPD directed NASA to get humans back to the moon as a stepping-stone to Mars. The second streamlined regulations for the commercial space sector, and the third dealt with management of space traffic.

 

[ctg]

The United States needs to accelerate the deployment of sensors in space to counter threats allegedly posed by adversaries like Russia, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Commander Terrence O'Shaughnessy said in congressional testimony on Tuesday.

"We need to fundamentally relook at the way that we are maintaining our domain awareness," O'Shaughnessy, who also leads US Northern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "It absolutely is going to have to include space and we really need to accelerate our work to put sensors in space that can help us understand the domain on the sea and in the air of the threats that are coming to our homeland."

O'Shaughnessy also said investing in anti-missile defence systems will be critical to countering Russia, which, according to him, represents the biggest near-term threat to the US homeland.

"[Russia] is not just a cyber threat. This is a kinetic threat with cruise missiles," the NORAD chief said. "We need to invest... if we are going to maintain our ability to defend."

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a directive that ordered the Pentagon to establish a US Space Force that would operate as the sixth branch of the armed forces within the Air Force, despite a 1967 treaty signed by more than 100 nations that ban the militarization of space.

The Pentagon said in a report in August that the US Space Force's capability development efforts will focus on global surveillance for missile targeting and other priorities. The report also named Russia and China as key threats to US space capabilities.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/U...ce_sensors_to_counter_Russian_threat_999.html

 

[ctg]

The Pentagon has submitted a proposal to Congress that, if approved, would see the creation of a new "Space Force," officials said Friday.

The move comes at the request of President Donald Trump, who has insisted that a separate branch of military is needed to focus on protecting satellites and tackling vulnerabilities in space.

"Our approach follows President Trump's bold vision for space and commits resources to deliver more capability faster, ensuring the United States can compete, deter, and, if needed, win in a complex domain," Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said.

In its current form, the Space Force would be established as its own branch of the military but would fall under the Air Force, similar to how the Navy oversees the Marine Corps.

Not since the Air Force was stood up in 1947 has the Pentagon created a new military branch. Space Force would be the sixth, with the others being the Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard.

But the creation of Space Force is by no means a done deal, as it must be vetted and approved by Congress.

Lawmakers and defense officials have reacted with skepticism -- they are wary of the cost, added bureaucracy and duplication of work currently done by the Air Force.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Pentagon_submits_Space_Force_proposal_to_Congress_999.html

 

[ctg]

Chief of the Russian General Staff and First Deputy Defence Minister, General Valery Gerasimov has stated that modern conflicts are characterised by attracting means of economic, political, diplomatic, informational pressure, as well as a demonstration of military power in the interests of enhancing the effectiveness of non-military measures.

Russia's geopolitical rivals are preparing to wage wars against a "high-tech adversary", using high-precision air- and space-based weapons and actively conducting information confrontation, Chief of the Russian General Staff and First Deputy Defence Minister, General Valery Gerasimov stated at a conference on developing a military strategy.

"Therefore, the search for rational strategies for waging war with a different adversary is of paramount importance for the development of the theory and practice of military strategy. We need to clarify the essence and content of military strategy, the principles of prevention, preparation for war and its conduct", the Chief of the General Staff noted.

He stressed that under these conditions, the Russian Armed Forces must be ready to conduct wars and armed conflicts of a new type using "classical" and "asymmetric" methods.

It is necessary to further develop the forms and methods of using the armed forces, primarily in the sphere of strategic deterrence, as well as to improve the state defence structure, he noted.

Gerasimov went on to say that the programme for staffing the Russian Armed Forces with contract servicemen is proceeding as planned.

"By the end of 2025, their number will reach 475,000 troops, and the need for conscription of citizens will be reduced", he said in a speech at a general meeting of the Academy of Military Science.

Today, the officer corps of the armed forces is staffed with trained professional personnel, he said.

"All the commanders of military districts, integrated combined arms forces, air force and air defence units, as well as 96 percent of the commanders of combined-arms units and formations, have combat experience", Gerasimov recalled.

The nuclear triad, which plays a key role in maintaining strategic parity, has noticeably strengthened, he noted.

"The share of modern weapons in our nuclear component has reached 82 percent", Gerasimov said.

The complexity of modern weapons makes it almost impossible to organise their production in a short time in the event of a war, therefore everything should be produced and commissioned in the required quantity in peacetime, the Chief of the General Staff said.

"We must, by all means, ensure technical, technological, and organisational superiority over any potential adversary", he said.

This requirement should be key in setting targets for the defence industry to develop new types of weapons, allowing enterprises to conduct long-term planning, Gerasimov said.

Gerasimov continued by saying that the US and its allies have set an aggressive vector in their foreign policy, and are working on offensive military actions.

The US and its allies aim to eliminate statehood in countries they dislike, which is evidenced by developments in Venezuela, he noted.

"The United States and its allies have determined the aggressive vector of their foreign policy. They are working on offensive military actions, such as global strike, a multi-sphere battle, they are using the colour revolution technology and soft power. They aim to eliminate the statehood of countries they dislike, undermine sovereignty, change the legally elected bodies of state power", Gerasimov has stated.

He cited Iraq, Libya, and Ukraine as examples of such a strategy.

"At present, similar actions are being observed in Venezuela", the Chief of the General Staff noted.

It is necessary to further develop the forms and methods of how the armed forces will be used, primarily in the sphere of strategic deterrence, as well as improving the state defence structure, he added.

He further elaborated that the Pentagon has begun developing a new warfare strategy focused on actively using the protest potential of a fifth column to destabilise the situation in the targeted countries while simultaneously striking the most important strategic facilities with high-precision weapons.

"The Pentagon has begun to develop a fundamentally new strategy of warfare, which has already been dubbed the Trojan Horse. Its essence lies in the active use of the protest potential of the 'fifth column' for the destabilisation of a situation while simultaneously attacking the most important facilities with high-precision weapons", Gerasimov told reporters.

Russia is ready to deal with any of the new strategies, he stressed.

"In recent years, [Russian] military scientists, together with the General Staff, have developed conceptual approaches to neutralise the aggressive actions of potential opponents", the Chief of the General Staff noted.

He stressed that the basis of Russia's response is an active defence strategy, which, given the defensive nature of Russia's military doctrine, provides for a set of pre-emptive measures to neutralise threats to the security of the state.

"The justification of the measures that are being developed should constitute the scientific activity of military scientists. This is one of the priority areas for ensuring state security. We must be ahead of the enemy in the development of military strategy, one step ahead", the Chief of the General Staff added.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/R..._High_Tech_Wars_in_Space___Gen_Staff_999.html

 

[ctg]

Listen up conspiracy theorists, schizophrenics, and other beloved readers: Some of you out there might have been wondering if Space Force will fight aliens.

Yet only a fool would pose such a question to senior defense officials. Thankfully, your friend and humble Pentagon correspondent is that fool.

During a roundtable on Friday, this reporter asked if Space Force is concerned about threats posed by extraterrestrial intelligence.

The official answer: No.

A December 2018 Defense Intelligence Agency report warns that, "potential adversaries are developing and proliferating a variety of weapons that could disrupt or deny civil and military space services."

https://taskandpurpose.com/no-aliens-space-force

Kommenttina, UFOista ei välitetä koska niitä vastaan ei voi muutenkaan taistella, koska heillä on teknologinen ylivoima. Jenkkien koko space boomi on suunnattu maata kohtaan ja jos muukalaiset hyökkäisivät niin se olisi kaikkien ongelma, ei vain jenkkien.

"We want people to be recruited into the Space Force similar to the way the Marine Corps recruits Marines," one senior defense official said. "They don't recruit them into the Navy. They actually go after the specific people with a vision that is necessary to build that culture."

"The Space Force will develop forces for: space situational awareness; satellite operations and global, integrated, command and control of military space forces; global and theater military space operations to enable joint campaigns (to include missile warning); space support to land, air, naval, and cyber forces; spacelift and space range operations; space-based nuclear detonation detection; and prompt and sustained offensive and defensive space operations to achieve space superiority," according to a strategic overview of the proposed service.

 

[Gyllis1]

Kommenttina, UFOista ei välitetä koska niitä vastaan ei voi muutenkaan taistella, koska heillä on teknologinen ylivoima.

Ihmiskunta on voittanut useammankin sodan ulkoavaruudesta tulleita valloittajia vastaan sinnikkyydellään ja kekseliäisyydellään. Toki Yhdysvallat on näissä yleensä ollut ratkaisevassa roolissa.

 

[StmSvejk]

Ihmiskunta on voittanut useammankin sodan ulkoavaruudesta tulleita valloittajia vastaan sinnikkyydellään ja kekseliäisyydellään. Toki Yhdysvallat on näissä yleensä ollut ratkaisevassa roolissa.

Kunhan alienit käyttävät Windowsia ei meillä ole mitään hätää.

 

[Gyllis1]

Kunhan alienit käyttävät Windowsia ei meillä ole mitään hätää.

Kyllä me ne kurmootetaan käyttiksestä huolimatta. Taisteluroboteilla esimerkiksi.

 

[Mortti]

Kunhan alienit käyttävät Windowsia ei meillä ole mitään hätää.

Tuo kohtaus oli aikanaan hyvä esimerkki amerikan tyhmentymisestä ja sai minut vahvasti allergiseksi Hollywoodille. Jopa jonkun Steven Seagalin tusinatoimintaleffat ovat fiksumpia.

 

[ctg]

Defense officials want to test a neutral particle-beam in orbit in fiscal 2023 as part of a ramped-up effort to explore various types of space-based weaponry. They’ve asked for $304 million in the 2020 budget to develop such beams, more powerful lasers, and other new tech for next-generation missile defense. Such weapons are needed, they say, to counter new missiles from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. But just figuring out what might work is a difficult technical challenge.

So the Pentagon is undertaking two studies. The first is a $15 million exploration of whether satellites outfitted with lasers might be able to disable enemy missiles coming off the launch pad. Defense officials have said previously that these lasers would need to be in the megawatt class. They expect to finish the study within six months.

They’re also pouring money into a study of space-based neutral particle beams, a different form of directed energy that disrupts missiles with streams of subatomic particles traveling close to light speed — as opposed to lasers, whose photons travel at light speed.

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2019/03/pentagon-wants-test-space-based-weapon-2023/155581/

 

[ctg]

Reusable rockets are the disruptive technology that will keep U.S. military capabilities ahead of China and Russia — if the Pentagon can tap the breakneck pace of innovation in the commercial space launch market. But instead, the U.S. Air Force may restrict future contracts to two companies, mimicking today’s launch duopoly of United Launch Alliance and SpaceX. This would sap military space efforts of competition that would lower prices, galvanize technological advances, and help maintain American dominance in space.

The Air Force’s space launches are handled by the National Security Space Launch program, the effort that used to be called the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. Congress renamed it, as of March 1, to underscore the importance of “non-expendable” rockets — that is, the reusable ones being developed by various private-sector companies. That name change was ordered by the 2019 defense authorization act, which also instructs DOD to keep developing a process to evaluate and certify launch vehicles using previously flown components or systems.

Just last October, the Air Force kick-started this process by awarding partial funding to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, and United Launch Alliance to certify new launch systems that meet national security requirements, including conducting prototype flights.

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/20...n-its-satellite-launches/155625/?oref=d-river

 

[ctg]

Many of the people familiar with the development of a Space Force have assumed that the current organization known as Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), headquartered at Peterson AFB in Colorado, will be transformed into this new service while remaining under the Secretary of the Air Force. This would be analogous to the Marine Corps being under the Secretary of the Navy. However, the mission of the new Space Force may well be quickly morphed into something quite different than the mission of the AFSPC.

The growing congestion in low orbits and adversarial challenges in low and high orbits may well inevitably lead to a major paradigm shift in space-based national security operations. Such operations would logically be assigned to the U.S. Space Force.

Currently, space-based national security operations are limited by old technologies and a lack needed systems to keep up with evolving threats. Simply put, the U.S. has a "peacetime" set of defenses for its valuable security assets in orbits about the Earth.

If real war should break out among the major powers, many of these assets could not be properly defended, even though much of America's military operations depend on these assets. The results would certainly be expensive in terms of resources and people.

Thus, one of the most important missions for the Space Force may be the direct and comprehensive protection of space-based security assets. This should involve a very aggressive set of operations that keep defense-supporting spacecraft separated from other objects in orbit and that offer protection from aggressive attacks.

This is not an easy mission because of the several variables and growing population of controlled adversarial devices and uncontrolled debris objects. The implications of such a mission may include the rapid advancement and deployment of new technologies and systems that can:

+ Create and defend a "military" zone in space that is reserved for security assets

+ Detect and track all potential threatening objects with much higher accuracy and responsiveness than is now available

+ Actively remove a portion of the threatening debris population on a permanent basis

+ Shield assets from direct kinetic attacks and RF jamming

+ Maintain an offensive space-based capability

These suggestions may seem rather extreme, but the alternative may be much more extreme.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/A_Mission_for_the_Space_Force_999.html

 

[Fremen]

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/A_Mission_for_the_Space_Force_999.html

Nämähän on itse asiassa ihan järkeviä toimintakykytavoitteita - toi mission statementin open ended loppukaneetti on niin voimaannuttava että jätän sen paikalleen

+ Create and defend a "military" zone in space that is reserved for security assets

+ Detect and track all potential threatening objects with much higher accuracy and responsiveness than is now available

+ Actively remove a portion of the threatening debris population on a permanent basis

+ Shield assets from direct kinetic attacks and RF jamming

+ Maintain an offensive space-based capability

These suggestions may seem rather extreme, but the alternative may be much more extreme.

 

[ctg]

Nämähän on itse asiassa ihan järkeviä toimintakykytavoitteita - toi mission statementin open ended loppukaneetti on niin voimaannuttava että jätän sen paikalleen

Mutta jos tätä ei olisi, niin ei olisi konfliktiakaan. Eli luoko jenkit konfliktin itse samanlailla kuin mitä Kiina on tehnyt tekosaarillaan Kiinan Merellä?

 

[Fremen]

Mutta jos tätä ei olisi, niin ei olisi konfliktiakaan. Eli luoko jenkit konfliktin itse samanlailla kuin mitä Kiina on tehnyt tekosaarillaan Kiinan Merellä?

Noh, neljä ensimmäistä kohtaa oman tulkintani mukaan pikemminkin rajaavat toimintakenttää, kuin laventavat sitä hallitsemattomasti. Viidennen on selkeästi neukkarin känkkäränkkä-haukka vaatinut lisättäväksi, tai lounaspuhvetti peruutetaan. Mielenkiintoista nähdä joku julkinen esitys siitä missä fokus avaruudessa tulee olemaan, olen asiaa vähän arvuutellut jo, ihan turhan Moonraker -henkisesti. Annos byrokraattista konsensus-inertiaa oli tässäkin paikallaan...

Fremen SPACE FORCE.



Actual Space Force.

 

[Osasto 31]

USA:han tulee tässä hieman myöhässä. Tosin veikkaan he jos kuka saavat jotakin käytännöllistä aikaan.

 

[ctg]

Intia ampui keskiviikkona alas yhden omista satelliiteistaan matalalta maan kiertoradalta, kertoo uutistoimisto Reuters.

Intian pääministerin Narendra Modin mukaan satelliitinvastainen ohjus vahvistaa maan asemaa yhtenä avaruuden asevoimana. Aiemmin vain Yhdysvallat, Venäjä ja Kiina ovat käyttäneet satelliitinvastaisia ohjuksia.

– Tiedemiehemme ampuivat alas toimivan satelliitin 300 kilometrin korkeudesta avaruudesta. Intia saavutti jotain ennenkuulumatonta tänään. Olemme nyt avaruusmahti, Modi hehkutti televisiopuheessaan.

Satelliitteja tuhoavat aseet mahdollistavat hyökkäykset vihollisten satelliitteihin sokeuttaen niitä tai häiritsemällä viestintää. Ne myös tarjoavat teknologisen mahdollisuuden ballististen ohjusten pysäyttämiselle. Ne ovat herättäneet pelkoja asevarustelukilpailun laajentumisesta avaruuteen.

https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10710494

 

[ctg]

The president has nominated to the Senate Gen John W. "Jay" Raymond as the commander of United States Space Command.

If confirmed, Raymond will lead the soon-to-be established USSPACECOM, which will focus on conducting all joint space warfighting operations and ensuring the combat readiness of global forces.

Establishing USSPACECOM is a critical step that underscores the importance of the space domain and its strategic contributions to U.S. national security. The USSPACECOM establishment will accelerate space capabilities to address the rapidly evolving threats to U.S. space systems and the importance of deterring potential adversaries from putting critical U.S. space systems at risk.

If confirmed, and upon establishment of USSPACECOM, Raymond will remain dual-hatted as Air Force Space Command commander at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Dis...ted-states-space-command-commander-nominated/

 

[ctg]

No niin, tätä olen odotellut. Intian testi tuotti 270 isohkoa sirpaletta. Pentagonit kenraalit odottavat tämän numeron kasvavan ajan kuluessa. Huomaa että Kiinan testi on tuottanut kappalepilven missä yli 3000 sirpaletta, kun taas naapurin satelliitin törmäys Iridium satelliittin on tuottanut noin 1000 sirpaleen pilven.

Jos konflikti sattuu alemmilla kiertoradoilla, niin voimme odottaa helposti että maata kiertää satojen tuhansien sirpaleiden pilvi. Onni onnettomuudessa on se että ajan saatossa ne palaa ilmakehään ja palaa tuhkaksi, mutta kukaan ei pysty ennakoimaan kuinka kauan nuo sirpalepilvet kiertäisivät maapalloa, tehden avaruusmatkailusta ongelmallista.

India's destruction of a satellite with a missile created hundreds of pieces of "space junk," a potentially dangerous situation that established space powers have tried to avoid for years.
India has sought to minimize the threat to orbiting satellites posed by Wednesday's test of an anti-satellite weapon, which experts said was not technically illegal.

"Unfortunately, there is no binding international legal rule (yet) which prohibits the wanton creation of space debris," said Frans von der Dunk, professor of space law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

At the same time, the test "strictly speaking" was a violation of the obligation under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty to inform other countries of the test "since they might well suffer harmful interference with their own satellite operations," von der Dunk said.

"These kinds of tests increasingly go against the trend and spirit of international law, which is increasingly being seen as moving towards a customary international legal obligation to refrain from such junk-creating activities," he told AFP.

Since 2002, the world's space powers have complied with an informal code of conduct to avoid the creation of space junk and the United Nations has endorsed a resolution along those lines.
The United States took aim at India's anti-satellite weapons test with acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan saying "We all live in space. Let's not make it a mess."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a rare address to the nation, said the satellite was struck at an altitude of around 300 kilometers (185 miles), which is lower than the 410 kilometers (254 miles) used by the International Space Station and most satellites.

The danger from "space junk" is not that it falls to Earth but that it collides with orbiting satellites.

Even the smallest piece of debris travelling at great speeds can put a satellite out of action.
Most of the debris from the Indian test is expected to remain in orbit for several weeks before gravity exerts its pull and it is consumed by Earth's atmosphere.

Experts consulted by AFP said they believe the relatively low altitude of the test conducted by India renders it safe.

"Not too many objects fly at this altitude, because it's so low and there's such high drag," said Tom Johnson, vice-president of engineering at Analytical Graphics, Inc.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/I...n_creates_debris_field_of_space_junk_999.html

The leader in tracking objects in space is the US military through its 18th Space Control Squadron.

It maintains an online data base of more than 23,000 orbiting objects including active satellites, defunct satellites, pieces of rockets and debris from previous tests of anti-satellite weapons.
These objects include more than 3,000 pieces of space debris created in a Chinese anti-satellite test in 2007 and more than 1,000 from an accidental collision in 2009 between a Russian satellite and an Iridium satellite.

US Air Force Lieutenant General David Thompson, vice commander of Air Force Space Command, told a Senate hearing on Wednesday that the United States was tracking about 270 different objects in the debris field several hours after the Indian test.

Thompson said it was "likely that number is going to grow as the debris field spreads out and we collect more sensor information."

"We'll provide direct notification to satellite operators if those satellites are under threat," he said.

Thompson said US surveillance systems had immediately detected the launch of the Indian missile and "we were aware that it was coming because of some flight bans that India had announced."

"Let me say clearly it was detected and characterized and reported by Air Force systems," he said.
Experts believe the target of the Indian missile was a Microsat-R satellite, weighing 740 kilograms (1,631 pounds) which India launched on January 24.

The US company Planet, which provides high-resolution photography of Earth through satellites orbiting at an altitude of around 500 kilometers (310 miles), strongly denounced the test.
"We categorically condemn the anti-satellite missile intercept recently conducted by India's defense department," Planet said in a statement.

"Space should be used for peaceful purposes, and destroying satellites on orbit severely threatens the long term stability of the space environment for all space operators."

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/I...n_creates_debris_field_of_space_junk_999.html

 

[ctg]

Taputuksia naapurille. Tämä on hyvä työkalu, varsinkin jos konflikti sattuu, mutta käänteisenä asiana naapuri voi myös käyttää tätä konseptia suistamaan niitä vihollis-satelliitteja kiertoradalta, ilman ohjustimen käyttöä.

While the US expresses concern about Moscow developing new military satellites, Russian space companies have come up with peaceful and actually globally useful inventions in the sphere of satellite technologies.

State-funded firm Russian Space Systems has presented the concept and characteristics of their latest development - a satellite capable of devouring the remains of its own kind littering the Earth's orbit.

In the course of one full operational cycle, the satellite can recycle up to 500 kilograms of space debris, the developers indicated. What is more, it will use recycled trash as operational fuel.

The 2.5 tonne satellite will be sent into the lower orbits at a height of around 400 kilometres, where it will find its first prey, grab it using a two-section titan net, compress it and then grind it into dust.
The latter will be mixed into a so-called pseudo-liquid fuel using oxygen and hydrogen gases that in turn will be generated by the satellite itself using a processor that regenerates water.

As the satellite inventor Maria Barkova puts it, her invention will basically act as a space "predator" - feeding on other satellites to move further into higher and more littered orbits. This will allow for a reduction in deployment costs, as it won't require additional stages to be sent into lower orbit.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_Reveals_Details_About_Its_First_Predator_Satellite_999.html