Astronomy Prints 🌌: Space Force amplifies warnings on China

12/10/2024

National security insights for space professionals. Delivered Tuesdays.

Welcome to this week's edition of SpaceNews Military, your concise source for the latest developments at the intersection of space and national security. In this issue, we cover:

- Space Force warns of narrowing 'capability gap' with China

- Supply chain woes in the U.S. industrial base

- SpaceNews Icon Awards winners take the stage

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Space & defense brief 🛰️

Space Force leader warns of a closing 'capability gap' with China

U.S. Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein issued a stark warning this weekend, highlighting China's rapid advancements in space technology and its growing potential to challenge U.S. dominance in orbit.

The erosion of longstanding orbital "gentleman's agreement" marks a pivotal moment in space geopolitics, he said.
Guetlein said the Space Force is working with allies and with commercial firms in an effort to maintain U.S. space superiority. The proposed Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR) program represents a departure from Cold War-era thinking, explicitly recognizing that commercial partners are now essential to military space operations.
Guetlein called for a fundamental reimagining of space operations — acknowledging that the United States can no longer assume automatic technological supremacy, but must actively innovate and collaborate.

Guetlein's remarks come as the Space Force continues to push for additional funding and resources to meet these growing threats. "We must act now to ensure that the capability gap doesn't shrink to zero — or worse, go negative," he said.

Supply chain improving but problems are not over

The Reagan National Defense Forum put a spotlight on challenges across the defense and space industrial base.

Case in point is the Space Development Agency (SDA), tasked with building the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) — a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation for missile warning, tracking, and tactical data.
Tranche 1, originally scheduled for spring 2024, has slipped by at least seven months due to supply chain disruptions.

Director Derek Tournear didn't mince words. "We don't build anything in the Defense Department," Tournear said Dec. 7, noting that the SDA's success hinges on private sector manufacturers. But the industry faces serious hurdles: pandemic-related production bottlenecks, a lack of NSA-approved encryption device suppliers, and challenges in scaling from single-digit prototypes to hundreds of units.

Tournear described a vicious cycle: companies are reluctant to invest in expanded manufacturing without guaranteed orders, slowing the pipeline for critical defense tech.
And then there's the software issue — most satellite flight software is currently written overseas, a glaring security vulnerability. "We want our flight software for our satellites to be written in the U.S.," he stressed.

Guetlein warned that SDA's struggles reflect systemic issues across the defense industrial base. Years of prioritizing efficiency and cost-cutting have left the U.S. with razor-thin margins for ramping up production in crises. "We need to get comfortable with a lack of efficiency to build excess capacity," he said.

The problem isn't confined to space. It's echoed in the Pentagon's difficulties meeting Ukraine's defense needs, from munitions to advanced weapon systems. "We are single-supplier deep across multiple fronts," Guetlein cautioned.

SpaceNews Icon Awards, DalBello calls for balanced regulation

The winners of the 2024 SpaceNews Icon Awards — recognizing remarkable contributions to humanity's journey into space — were unveiled Friday, with industry leaders emphasizing the need to navigate regulatory challenges while fostering innovation.

Richard DalBello, Director of the Office of Space Commerce, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. In remarks at the event, DalBello highlighted the dual-edged nature of U.S. regulatory frameworks for the burgeoning space economy, particularly as the Donald Trump administration prepares to take office.

"The transparency and stability of U.S. regulations are a magnet for satellite operators and investors worldwide," he noted, lauding the system's reliability. Yet, he also warned of the risks posed by regulatory overreach, which could hinder industry progress. It's a constant tug-of-war, he said, calling for a balanced approach to enable growth without unnecessary red tape.

Varda Space Industries finds workarounds

Eric Lasker, Chief Revenue Officer of Varda Space Industries, also took the stage to underscore the real-world impacts of regulatory bottlenecks. The company, honored for its pioneering efforts in orbital manufacturing, is preparing its next mission to reenter Earth's atmosphere over South Australia — not the U.S. — to sidestep delays in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensing.

"While we're a proud U.S. company, the current FAA process doesn't support the cadence of reentry operations we need," Lasker said. Varda's spacecraft, designed to produce advanced materials in microgravity and return them to Earth, represents a cutting-edge innovation that faces hurdles in scaling operations domestically.

Lasker urged the incoming administration to prioritize staffing at regulatory agencies to accelerate licensing timelines. "It's a simple fix with outsized benefits," he added, expressing hope for a more supportive environment for space-based businesses.

DalBello touts progress in civil space traffic system

The Office of Space Commerce is making strides in the development of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS), said DalBello.

The system aims to replace the Department of Defense's longstanding space catalog, space-track.org, with a civilian-run platform to enhance safety and transparency in orbit.

An early prototype of TraCSS is already in limited use by select satellite operators. The full rollout is expected by 2025, enabling all satellite operators to access basic space situational awareness data through the TraCSS.gov platform.

A critical issue, DalBello said, is the lack of cooperation with China, which has been rapidly expanding its presence in space. "China is not playing right now," he stated. "We can't fly safely with thousands of satellites in orbit without some kind of communication."

In other news 🚀

The U.S. Space Force last week activated its sixth service component, United States Space Forces-Japan at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

The organization operates under U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific in direct support of U.S. Forces Japan.

The unit, led by Col. Ryan Laughton, is responsible for space security efforts in coordination with Japanese counterparts.

"US Space Forces-Japan will deepen our synchronization and help build robust space expertise and interoperable capabilities to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific," said Laughton.

Satellite communications provider Globalstar has teamed up with defense contractor Parsons to bring to market a secure messaging and data transmission service for military users.

Under the partnership announced Dec. 3, Parsons developed a specialized waveform that enables secure communication through Globalstar's existing low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite infrastructure.

Unlike hardware-centric upgrades, this software-driven solution leverages Globalstar's bent-pipe satellite architecture, simplifying integration and updates.

SES Space & Defense announced on Monday it was awarded a five-year agreement worth up to $117 million to provide satellite communications services to U.S. European Command.

SES said it partnered with several firms to provide managed services using UHF, L, C, X, Ku and Mil-Ka bands.

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