"What's most amazing about this milestone is it represents a culmination of three interrelated systems - the ORS-1 satellite; the ground system architecture, known as the Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center; and our mission planning system," said Maj. Laura Kohake, 7 SOPS flight commander and lead ORS-1 engineer for 1 SOPS.

Most of the time, when space operations squadrons launch and operate satellites they use a ground system which is already embedded and has launched and operated previous satellites. But, these three systems were all developed concurrently and they all came together at the same time.

"Trying to get all these pieces to come out correctly at the same time so we could start performing operations has been challenging," Kohake said.

"While we were developing the ground system, the mission planning software and the satellite, 1 and 7 SOPS were conducting training and compiling procedures. So when something changed with any of those components we had to go back and relook at everything we did prior. All of that happened at the same time just so we could get to a point where we could launch and begin operations. It represents quite a feat for the program office, for the Operationally Responsive Space Office and for Team 8-Ball."

The satellite system, ORS-1, represents a fundamental change in the U.S. military satellite acquisition process. The program was established during 2008 after U.S. Central Command expressed an urgent requirement for enhanced battle space awareness.

What makes the ORS system unique is that it took approximately three years to develop from concept to launch and orbit, compared to traditional satellite systems, which typically take seven years or longer to develop. The space vehicle features a modified version of the Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System-2 camera, normally employed by U-2 aircraft.

For ORS-1, the prime contractor attached a larger telescope to the SYERS-2 camera to give it adequate resolution from orbit.

Placed into orbit during June 2011, ORS-1 provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to troops in the USCENTCOM area of operations, including Afghanistan and Iraq. The 50th Space Wing took control of the satellite during September 2011 from the Space and Missile Systems Center following 45 days of on-orbit checkout.

Team 8-Ball now controls both the ORS-1 bus and its contractor-supplied SYERS-2 electro-optical/infrared camera.

Lt. Col. Mike Manor, 1 SOPS commander, indicated that USCENTCOM leaders have been impressed with the imagery ORS-1 continues to provide.

"The most rewarding part of it all is knowing the images we are sending down range are helping our teammates in harm's way," Manor said.

As impressively as ORS-1 has performed so far, the satellite's ground system may turn out to have an even bigger impact on U.S. military operations.

The MMSOC is a revolutionary approach to space operations - an operations center focused on forging a one-of-a-kind operations and acquisition team to demonstrate and field emerging space missions and satellite command and control technologies in a rapid, decisive manner.

It's also structured to operate a variety of satellite missions, including satellite initiatives without a program office, satellite missions of small scale (small constellations), new missions transitioning from concept toward full-scale operations and all research, development, test and evaluation satellites with operational utility remaining after test and evaluation are complete.

Team 8-Ball was tasked with gluing the systems together and Kohake knew the task would pose difficulties because a model structure had yet to exist.

"The system program office or space development test directorate, based at Kirtland AFB, N.M., sent an entire team up here and helped us develop all of our training and procedures so we could begin operations," said Capt. Aaron Celaya, 1 SOPS flight commander for MMSOC operations said.

"We adopted some of their models for our processes, but we had to create all of the procedures, tactics and techniques that we currently use. We had some templates but we had to build all of our checklists from the ground up."

The key to the ground system's effectiveness lies in its flexibility.

"Lieutenant Colonel Manor likes to compare MMSOC to a smart phone, where satellites represent apps and the phone is designed to handle the different types of missions," Celaya said.

"The vision for MMSOC is to fly multiple missions, where maybe you have an operator controlling ORS-1 with one computer while he's sitting next to someone who is controlling a completely different vehicle."

Team-8 Ball members like to think they sit on the cutting edge of the future of space operations; an edge that represents a more agile Air Force.

"Operational acceptance of ORS-1 and MMSOC provides a sense of achievement for bringing this great capability to the warfighter," said Lt. Col. Robb Owens, 1 SOPS director of operations.

"The relatively short timeline and low costs associated with bringing these systems on line is truly amazing and is the result of outstanding teamwork between the ORS Office, Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development and Test Directorate, ATK Spacecraft Systems and Services, Goodrich Corporation ISR Systems, and 1 and 7 SOPS. Team 8-Ball is proud to operate this historic satellite as we enter steady state operations and fulfill an urgent ISR need identified by USCENTCOM."

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Tehran (AFP) Feb 3, 2012 - Iran on Friday launched an observation satellite into orbit above Earth, its third since 2009, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The Navid satellite was launched successfully.... It will be placed into an orbit (at an altitude) between 250 and 370 kilometres," IRNA quoted the head of Iran's Space Organisation, Hamid Fazeli, as saying.

The launch comes as Iran is marking the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic revolution -- and as tensions are heating up over Iran's nuclear programme.

The 50-kilogram (110-pound) satellite is meant to stay in orbit for 18 months, sending back images to Iran as it completes a revolution of Earth every 90 minutes. It was unveiled two years ago and its launch had long been expected.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led the launch ceremony, media said.

"It's the beginning of an immense labour... which holds the promise of friendship for all mankind," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

Iran's defence minister, Ahmad Vahidi, said the Navid satellite would beam its images to several ground stations across the country, according to media.

"The telemetric and command stations give and receive data and control the satellite," Vahidi said.

It was the third domestically made satellite Iran has put above the planet using its Safir rockets. The other two observation platforms, launched in February 2009 and July 2011, stayed in orbit for two to three months.

Iran's space programme deeply unsettles Western nations, which fear it could be used to develop ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads they suspect are being developed in secret.

There is increasing speculation that Israel is considering air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities -- an action that could possibly spark a broader conflict drawing in the United States.

Tehran, which insists its nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful, says its space ambitions include launching seven other satellites in coming years -- and putting an Iranian astronaut into orbit by 2020.

An attempt to put a monkey into a 20-minute orbital flight mid-2011 ended in failure.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Peterson AFB CO (SPX) Feb 01, 2012 - The next step in establishing full Rapid Attack, Identification, Detection and Reporting System capabilities is underway at Peterson Air Force Base. The 16th Space Control Squadron and 380th Space Control Squadron, a Reserve Associate Unit, formally broke ground near the east gate Jan. 17 for the new RAIDRS space control facility.

"This has been an incredible feat, especially when you consider the very challenging fiscal and manpower age in which we live," said Col. Chris Crawford, 21st Space Wing commander.

The $14.3 million facility will be 47,427 square feet once completed and house personnel from the 16th and 380th SPCS.

"With the birth of the new building we finally have the opportunity for the entire set of units to live together, to work together in one building," Crawford said.

The RAIDRS prototype, the Satellite Interference Response System, was initially deployed to U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility in July 2005 for a 120-day proof of concept.

Out of this initial success, SIRS was redesignated as RAIDRS Deployable Ground Segment Zero and has been continually deployed to the AOR as Operation Silent Sentry. Airmen from the 16th and 380th SPCS have provided the preponderance of the required manpower for this deployed mission since January 2007.

The new facility will be the central operating location for the RAIDRS system. The facility at Peterson, along with various suites of transportable antennas deployed around the world, will be able to detect, characterize, geolocate and report sources of radio frequency interference on U.S. military and commercial satellites in direct support of combatant commanders.

"Basically the DoD uses satellites to communicate over vast distances, and these satellite communication links are vulnerable," said Lt. Col. Roger Sherman, 16th SPCS commander.

The 16th and 380th SPCS monitor certain signals of interest from RAIDRS. If the operators pick up any interference, they start taking action.

Operators first characterize the problem, then geolocate, or pinpoint the location on the Earth where the interference is coming from, according to Sherman.

"That will allow us to tell the user of that signal to go to a different frequency or satellite transponder. In the case of something hostile, we can provide decision makers with information as to where the hostile action is coming from," Sherman said.

Completion of the facility is expected during fiscal year 2013.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Jan 27, 2012 - The Obama Administration launched a push for an international Code of Conduct pertaining to activities of space-faring nations, but its activities have been cloaked in secrecy. This lack of transparency caused 37 Republican Senators to request more information about the Administration's negotiations on this issue in February 2011.

According to Ellen Tauscher, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, "We will never do a legally binding agreement because I can't do one. I can't get anything ratified." It appears that the Administration is trying to circumvent the Senate's constitutional role in consenting to the ratification of international agreements that should be concluded as treaties.

Negative Implications for the U.S. Military
Arms control treaties, such as the Washington and London naval limitation treaties, are designed to limit the quantity and quality of arms in the possession of the participating states during times of peace. They cease to pertain during times of war.

Laws of war treaties, such as the Geneva or Hague Conventions, on the other hand, are designed to dictate how the armed forces of participating states operate in times of war. If these restrictions are not honored, service members may be subject to courts martial as war criminals by their military justice systems.

The Code of Conduct for space will be as much about restricting how space forces are used by the U.S. military as about limiting their types and numbers. For example, participating states will have to operate their space forces in ways that prevent the generation of space debris.

In this context, a U.S. military service member who makes a split-second decision in the operation of space forces during a crisis, when an enemy has taken dangerous action but the U.S. is not yet certain of the situation, may be prosecuted by his service as a war criminal if his decision and the resulting action generate space debris. The Code of Conduct effectively means that, when seconds count, decisions will take minutes.

Even if applied only during peacetime, the Code of Conduct would jeopardize U.S. ability to engage in testing of both space weapons and space combat doctrines. These activities could be interpreted as failing to "minimize the possibility of harmful interference" and engaging in "actions that damage or destroy space objects unless reducing debris."

Both of these points are likely to appear in the Administration's version of the Code of Conduct. Even cyber activities might be seen as violating the code's demand to commit to International Telecommunications Union regulations and recommendations, another attribute of the Code of Conduct as currently drafted. If the U.S. military is going to fight the way it trains, then denial of peacetime training opportunities of weapons and doctrine is a sure path to failure.

Circumventing the Senate's Role
Section 2573 of Title 22 of the U.S. Code prohibits the Administration from taking any action, including entering into non-treaty agreements, that limit the armed forces of the U.S. in a militarily significant manner other than through treaty agreements or a specific congressional authorization.

Since there is no specific authorization by Congress to limit U.S. military options in ways that will necessarily be a part of the Code of Conduct, the Obama Administration is legally required to negotiate the Code as a treaty document and make it subject to the advice and consent process.

Despite this clear legal requirement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement commits the Administration to negotiate the Code of Conduct as a document that is not legally binding and not subject to any level of congressional review or approval.

Congress, and the Senate in particular, should make it clear to the Administration that it is unacceptable for the Administration to pursue the kinds of limitations imposed by the Code of Conduct unless it takes the form of a treaty.

Preparing to Do More Damage?
Previously, the focus on using arms control to restrict space capabilities and activities was rooted in a treaty proposed by the governments of China and Russia for the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS), which would severely restrict U.S. military options and capabilities in space.

This item was put on the agenda of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD). On June 4, 2011, Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller told the CD that the U.S. had accepted this agenda.

Implicit in this announcement was that the U.S. would accept the PAROS Treaty proposed by China and Russia if the conference would conclude the negotiations on the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT), which is also on the CD's agenda.

The FMCT purports to ban the future production of fissile material used in the production of nuclear weapons, but it is not verifiable. Nevertheless, the Obama Administration considers the conclusion of the FMCT to be an essential step on the path toward its goal of nuclear disarmament.

Since May 2009, the CD's agenda has not advanced. The Secretary of State's announcement regarding the Code of Conduct says nothing about whether the U.S., as a result, has also withdrawn its support for CD's agenda and, by extension, the PAROS Treaty.

In the absence of a clear statement by the Administration regarding the CD's agenda, it impossible to avoid the conclusion that the negotiations on the Code of Conduct are designed to serve as a stalking horse for U.S. acceptance of the Chinese and Russian PAROS Treaty.

In essence, the Administration's acceptance of the CD's agenda was to trade U.S. military superiority in space, giving states like China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia an advantage over the U.S. and its allies in the nuclear arena. Congress should make it clear to the Administration that dressing up this ill-considered trade in the guise of a negotiation on a space Code of Conduct does not make it acceptable.

Protect U.S. Capabilities in Space
By accepting the code, the Administration would threaten the dominant U.S position in military and intelligence space capabilities, which provides the U.S. with enormous advantages over the enemy in the conduct, training, and support of military operations. In addition, the Administration is trying to circumvent the Senate's advice and consent role.

Congress should make it clear to the Administration that it will not tolerate an agreement that blurs the distinction between an arms control treaty and a law of war treaty.

By extension, if the U.S. enters into international negotiations on a space Code of Conduct, it should mean that the U.S. is withdrawing its support for the agenda at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament. Congress should vigorously defend its advice and consent role and demand the submission of the Code of Conduct as a treaty, rather than accepting the Administration's fiction that it is anything else.

Baker Spring is F. M. Kirby Research Fellow in National Security Policy and Michaela Bendikova is Research Assistant for Missile Defense and Foreign Policy in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation.

The authors would like to thank Heritage's Dean Cheng, Research Fellow in the Asian Studies Center, for his help with writing and reviewing this paper.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Moscow (RIA Novosti) Jan 18, 2012 - The United States is launching a new space arms-control initiative, as a Russian official accuses a U.S. radar of being behind the failure of Russia's Mars probe.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to announce the initiative later on Tuesday, the Washington Times reported.

The plan will draw on a 2008 European Union draft code of conduct for space, an unnamed administration official told the paper.

"The United States has decided to enter into formal consultations and negotiations with the European Union and other spacefaring nations to develop an International Code of Conduct," the official said.

"We believe the European Union's draft Code of Conduct is a solid foundation for future negotiations on reaching a consensus international code," the official said, adding negotiations to sign the code may stretch well into next year.

In 2008, Washington rejected an international treaty proposed by Russia and China to ban the use of weapons in outer space.

Last week, Ellen Tauscher, the State Department's top official on arms control, said the United States rejected the EU draft because it was "too restrictive."

John R. Bolton, a former US. ambassador to the United Nations, dismissed the initiative as "mindless."

"The last thing the United States needs is a space code of conduct," he told the Washington Times in e-mailed comments. "The ideology of arms control has already failed in the Russian 'reset' policy, and it is sure to fail here as well."

Russia's space agency Roscosmos declined to comment.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kommersant daily quoted an unnamed Russian space official as saying that the country's failed Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, which crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, may have been disabled by "emissions" from a U.S. radar.

The official added, however, that this would have happened inadvertently.

In a newspaper interview on January 10, Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin suggested "outside interference" may be to blame for a recent run of space failures.

"I don't want to accuse anyone, but today there are powerful means to affect the trajectory of spacecraft, and we cannot rule out that they have been deployed," he told Izvestia daily.

Source: RIA Novosti

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Patrick AFB FL (SPX) Jan 13, 2012 - Sharks! Let me be the first to welcome you back from what I hope was a relaxing and fun holiday. I know that we all welcomed the break after the recent launches, preparation for and ultimately execution of AFSPC's first Consolidated Unit Inspection (CUI). Let's take a quick look back at last year's accomplishments and look ahead to the upcoming year.

During 2011, we participated in 11 launches off the Eastern Range that not only contributed to our national defense, but also research and space exploration. The year started with the launches of the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-2) and National Reconnaissance Office satellites (NROL-27) in March and was then followed by the first launch of the critical DoD satellite, the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) GEO-1 in May.

In May and July, we also saw the final two Space Shuttles fly out, Endeavor (STS-134) and Atlantis (STS-135). Both of these missions delivered payloads to the International Space Station for scientific research. These final flights marked the end of the 30-plus year Space Shuttle program.

We also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first free human into space, Alan Shepherd, which happened at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 5 May 1961. One of those who served proudly in space is our 14th Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Helms. She was acknowledged for her achievements and inducted into the NASA Astronaut Hall of Fame in May.

In July, we also launched the second GPS-IIF satellite before launching three research satellites for NASA: Juno, Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) and the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). These were launched in August, September and November, respectfully.

This year we also had many Distinguished Visitors: President and Mrs. Obama, Florida Governor Scott, Florida Lt. Governor Carroll, Congresswoman Giffords from Arizona, the Secretary of the Air Force, Secretary Donley, the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Cartwright, the USSTRATCOM Commander, General Kehler, the AFSPC Commander, General Shelton. All witnessed the extraordinary pride and professionalism of Team Patrick.

Finally, we had our CUI in December. Overall the wing received a passing IN COMPLIANCE WITH COMMENTS rating. That does not sound very magical but is an enviable result. The wing was inspected in 29 areas and did well. In addition, there were some units that "knocked it outta the park!" Kudos to our Mighty Medics of the 45th Medical Group who received an OUTSTANDING rating on their Health Services Inspection.

The professionals of the 45th Launch Group "smoked" the Logistics Compliance Assessment Program (LCAP), with an OUTSTANDING rating while the 45th Mission Support Group pulled in an EXCELLENT rating. All in all, wing members earned 21 STRENGTHS, 22 PROFESSIONAL PERFORMERS and 14 PROFESSIONAL TEAMS. Well done!

As we move into 2012, the Eastern Range is going to be very busy. We will continue to launch missions that directly impact the security of our nation and also support important commercial and scientific missions.

There are 12 launches scheduled for 2012 on the Eastern Range. Some key missions are the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite (WGS-4) this month, SpaceX's mission to the International Space Station and the first satellite of the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), both in February. Later in the year we'll have the next Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-2) launch as well as two NRO launches (NROL-38 and NROL-15) this summer.

We'll also have the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), GPS IIF-4, OTV-3 and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-K) later in the year. And folks wonder if the Florida space coast is still in business?!

As we focus on our primary mission; safely executing assured access to space, let's not forget our mission of deploying combat ready Airmen around the world. Never forget the honorable service and the sacrifice Airmen and their families makeevery single day. 2012 will be a memorable one and I look forward to working side-by-side with all of you at the 45th Space Wing. I'm proud to be a member of this team.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Kourou, French Guiana (AFP) Dec 16, 2011 - A Soyuz rocket lifted off on Friday from Europe's space base in French Guiana, placing into orbit six low-orbit satellites with military or joint military-industrial use.

It was the second-ever launch of the Russian-made rocket from the European Space Agency (ESA) pad in South America.

The 2.2-tonne payload included France's Pleiades 1 satellite, designed to generate 3-D and colour images from low Earth orbit for both military and industrial use.

A second Pleiades satellite is scheduled for launch in early 2013.

Financed mainly by France's defence ministry, and built with Italian-French joint venture Thales Alenia Space, the Pleiades project is earmarked at 760 million euros (991 million dollars), according to France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).

The payload also included four ELISA micro-satellites for the French military, designed to test a new system for detecting radars from space through their electromagnetic signature. If successful, they will be followed by a prototype in about 2020.

The sixth satellite, SSOT, is a small Earth-observation satellite for the Chilean military, with ground resolution of 1.45 metres (4.7 feet).

Soyuz is a Cold War veteran of space whose lineage can be traced back to 1957 with Sputnik, the first satellite, and to the first manned flight, by Yuri Gagarin, in 1961.

It is being deployed in Kourou under a commercial arrangement between Russia and Arianespace, which markets launch services for ESA's Ariane 5 heavy launcher and a planned lightweight rocket, Vega.

On October 21, Soyuz made its maiden launch outside Russia's bases at Plesetsk and Baikonur, hoisting the first two satellites in Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Angleurm Belgium (SPX) Dec 19, 2011 - It is during the night from November 16th to 17th that the first satellite of the Pleiades constellation will fly off into Space from the Kourou Space centre.

Spacebel, Belgian software engineering SME, has contributed on a large scale to the implementation of these two Earth observation satellites of CNES, the French space agency.

The Pleiades programme based upon two optical satellites weighing one tonne each is meant to satisfy the needs of both civil and military users.

Planned for an operational lifetime of 5 years, both satellites will scrutinize our planet in order to gather images useful for agriculture, territory planning, natural disaster management, etc.

They will also provide data on population movements as well as on the topography of conflict areas.

By their size, their image resolution, their high agility in orbit and their capacity of retransmission to the ground, the Pleiades satellites represent a significant technological progress to which Spacebel is proud to bring its contribution.

Spacebel started to work on the Pleiades project from 2004 onwards with a first contract related to the design of the satellite's on-board software intended for the control of both the platform and the scientific payloads.

A year later, Spacebel was selected by CNES to take part in the development of the mission centre, which will centralize all requests for image acquisition, receive and process the on-board instrument data and provide these to the scientific world.

Spacebel will be specifically in charge of the realization of two subsystems of the programming chain related to the payload management and the reception station management.

Spacebel also contributes to the mission engineering and intervenes in the simulation activities allowing amongst others to verify the good functioning of the satellite before its departure into Space.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST King Of Prussia, PA (SPX) Dec 15, 2011 - Lockheed Martin has signed a three-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Air Force's Space Development and Test Directorate and Air Force Research Laboratory to improve the operation and affordability of satellite command and control.

"This agreement is a first step in opening up our architecture to the best ground station technologies in the private and civil sectors." said Colonel John Anttonen, Chief of the Space Test and Operations Division at Kirtland AFB.

"We are bringing the smartphone concept to our next generation ground systems where satellites are flown as apps and new technology can be rapidly inserted."

Lockheed Martin will leverage its best engineering technologies from across DoD, Intelligence, and Civil programs to meet the challenges of operationally responsive ground system configuration to achieve "lights out" operations.

Additionally, Lockheed Martin is scaling its ground station from a Space Operations Center down to a single laptop, and instantiating a ground system remotely from its host hardware (micro-cloud computing architecture), all while supporting multiple concurrent classified missions.

"Under the agreement, the parties are working to research, develop, demonstrate, and evaluate successful technologies to more quickly and affordably configure and autonomously operate satellite command and control systems," said Bob Kramer, Lockheed Martin IS and GS-Defense vice president for Operational Systems and Services.

"We look forward to working with the Air Force on this important operationally-responsive C2 project."

The project will culminate with live demonstrations in the Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center (MMSOC) at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., late this year, 2012, and 2013.

As the leader in USAF ground systems R and D, the Space Development and Test Directorate will provide access to space missions and the MMSOC for live experimentation.

The Directorate will help guide the investigations, provide system configuration and flight operations support to experiments, and assess the potential technologies on behalf of the DoD.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Eglin AFB FL (SPX) Dec 14, 2011 - The operators of 20th Space Control Squadron have a big job: carry out round-the-clock space surveillance operations with the world's most powerful radar. The squadron's AN/FPS-85 radar helps the Air Force keep track of more than 22,000 orbiting satellites, which is a dizzying task. The 20th SPCS, one of the 21st Space Wing's many geographically separated units, is located on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

The squadron's mission is to execute space control operations to detect, track and identify space objects to dominate the high ground for America and its allies.

The Mission Operations Center is the focal point for the squadron's space situational awareness operations, radar maintenance, computer operations and physical plant maintenance operations. The MOC is manned by military and government civilians 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Located more than 1,400 miles from Peterson AFB, the squadron relies on its host unit, the 96th Air Base Wing, for security, fire protection and other support.

The radar was initially built in 1962, five years after Sputnik was launched. Four months prior to scheduled testing in 1965, the site burned to the ground in a fire caused by electrical equipment. The radar was quickly rebuilt and operations began in early 1969. The AN/FPS-85 radar is the most powerful radar in the world and is the only phased array radar capable of tracking satellites in deep space orbits.

It tracks near-Earth objects the size of a baseball and deep space objects the size of a basketball. This means the radar is capable of tracking something about a foot across from more than 23,000 miles away and something a couple of inches across from 300 miles away.

Serving as a surveillance squadron and missile warning squadron in previous years, the 20th SPCS has been a space control squadron since 2003. It is one of 29 sensors that comprise the Space Surveillance Network for Air Force Space Command. While other radars have primary missions of missile warning, the 20th SPCS's sole purpose is space surveillance.

The radar collects more than 16 million observations of satellites per year, accounting for 30 percent of the space surveillance network's total workload. The data is collected at U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The 20th SPCS reports administratively to the 21st Operations Group at Peterson AFB and operationally to the JSPOC. The data collected from the AN/FPS-85 is sent to the JSPOC's space situational awareness operations cell, which maintains the data for all Earth-orbiting man-made objects.

By supporting JSPOC's space situational awareness cell, the 20th SPCS's tracking capabilities provide orbital information on enemy satellites and dangerous space debris. Using this information, friendly forces know what satellites are overhead and can optimize mission planning.

The data collected on debris can be used to warn of potential on-orbit collisions with satellites or the International Space Station. By tracking large debris and decaying satellites, data can be sent to the JSPOC to predict where the objects will land if it survives re-entry. The radar is also well positioned to track domestic and foreign launches. Data collected on launches help the JSPOC maintain an up-to-date satellite catalog and overall space awareness.

Although the AN/FPS-85 radar was built a half a century ago, there is still no radar like it in the world. Its unique capabilities allow for tracking of objects that other radars and telescopes would not be able to see. With the Earth's growing field of orbiting satellites and debris, the 20th SPCS's mission is more crucial than ever.

Advances in technology and computers let the users of the radar push its capabilities to its limits to explore innovative ways to dominate the high ground as the nation's Space Situational Awareness Center of Excellence.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:24 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D