Space

Report to Congress on Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance for Great Power Competition

The following is the June 4, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Design for Great Power Competition.

From the report

The U.S. military could suffer unacceptably high casualties and struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia. This implication by the National Defense Strategy Commission stands in contrast to the past several decades during which the U.S. possessed military power without equal. Great power competition has...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/07/report-to-congress-on-intelligence-surveillance-and-reconnaissance-for-great-power-competition

Navy to Hold Large Scale Fleet Exercises In Summer 2020

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) leads a formation of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5 ships as U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress aircraft and U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets pass overhead for a photo exercise during Valiant Shield 2018 on Sept. 17. US Navy photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When the Navy returns to holding large-scale fleet exercises in summer 2020, the operations will involve information warfare and tactical cyber teams, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said Thursday...

https://news.usni.org/2019/12/05/navy-to-hold-large-scale-fleet-exercises-in-summer-2020

GAO Report on Space Command and Control

The following is the Oct. 30, 2019 Government Accountability Office report, Space Command and Control: Comprehensive Planning and Oversight Could Help DOD Acquire Critical Capabilities and Address Challenges.

From the report

What GAO Found Given emerging and evolving threats in the space domain, as well as significant development problems in similar prior efforts, the Air Force is prioritizing the Space Command and Control (C2) program. Early prototype work on the program’s software began in...

https://news.usni.org/2019/11/05/gao-report-on-space-command-and-control

BWX Technologies Developing Microreactors With Military Customers In Mind

An illustration of a portable microreactor. Department of Energy Image

BWX Technologies is developing tractor trailer-sized micro nuclear reactors that could illuminate a small U.S. city, run a forward operating military base, power directed energy weapons or fuel deep-space missions.

BWX Technologies – the prime contractor building the reactors on the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers – has for years devoted a portion of its earnings to fund microreactor research and...

https://news.usni.org/2019/11/05/bwx-technologies-developing-microreactors-with-military-customers-in-mind

Missile Defense Agency Shaping Strategy to Meet Evolving Challenges

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03 (FTI-03) in 2018. MDA Photo

The Missile Defense Agency is working to up its game to meet new challenges posed by the next generation of precision-guided weapons the agency’s director said on Monday.

Vice Adm. Jon Hill, four months into his assignment, said the agency is...

https://news.usni.org/2019/10/07/missile-defense-agency-shaping-strategy-to-meet-evolving-challenges

Naval Postgraduate School Pitching Its Curriculum As Pathway To U.S. Space Command

Gen. Jay Raymond, the former Air Force Space Command commander who was tapped to lead the new U.S. Space Command, briefs Airmen at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, July 29, 2019. US Air Force photo.

THE PENTAGON – As U.S. Space Command stands up today, the Naval Postgraduate School is pitching itself as an established source of space planners, logisticians and program managers.

For decades, the school in Monterey, Calif., has trained mostly Navy personnel how to run and design the space...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/29/naval-postgraduate-school-pitching-its-curriculum-as-pathway-to-u-s-space-command

Lawmaker Cites Vacant Pentagon Jobs As Obstacle to Technology Development

Sailors train with the LA9-P Laser Hail and Warning System on the fantail of aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).

When confronting threats from space, directed energy and hypersonic weapons, the U.S. is working toward the technology it needs; what’s slowing progress is the lack of confirmed people to fill key Pentagon positions to guide these programs, warned the chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee.

By not filling dozens of senior positions with confirmed...

https://news.usni.org/2019/06/27/lawmaker-cites-vacant-pentagon-jobs-as-obstacle-to-technology-development

Space Force Nominee Warns Congress of Chinese, Russian Capabilities

Gen. John Raymond, Air Force Space Command commander in 2018. US Air Force Photo

Strides Russia and China have made in space mean the United States can no longer take for granted its superiority in that domain said the nominee expected to head the nation’s Space Force and an independent Space Command said Tuesday.

“China particularly has been watching” how the United States integrated space into all its military operations, Gen. John Raymond, currently the commander of the Air Force’s Space...

https://news.usni.org/2019/06/05/space-force-nominee-warns-congress-of-chinese-russian-capabilities

USS John P. Murtha Completes Orion Spacecraft Recovery Tests

NASA’s Recovery Team and the U.S. Navy test procedures and ground support equipment to improve recovery procedures and hardware ahead of Orion’s next flight. NASA photo.

San Antonio-class amphibious warship USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) completed a series of tests practicing the recovery of an Orion spacecraft in anticipation of NASA’s return to launching astronauts into space.

Murtha’s crew and NASA officials conducted several test recoveries during daylight and night hours and in varying states...

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/07/38080

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