{"id":61899,"date":"2025-08-06T05:40:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T05:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/61899\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T05:40:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T05:40:06","slug":"spacecom-chief-doubles-down-on-need-for-on-orbit-mobility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/61899\/","title":{"rendered":"SPACECOM chief doubles down on need for on-orbit mobility"},"content":{"rendered":"

SMD 2025 \u2015 US Space Command is amping up calls for new on-orbit mobility<\/a> capabilities to allow satellites to dodge threats and even pursue enemy spacecraft \u2014 capabilities SPACECOM Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting today stressed are necessary to achieving \u201cspace superiority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSustained space maneuver is crucial to our resilience and lethality through the mobility and endurance of our spacecraft. This year, we\u2019re elevating the importance of executing maneuver without threat, especially in geosynchronous orbit, where assets like space situational awareness satellites must have the agility to move when and where they\u2019re needed to enable space superiority,\u201d he told the annual Space & Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Ala. <\/p>\n

For the past several years, SPACECOM has been loudly advocating for more resources to develop the enabling technologies to allow future satellites to maneuver relatively quickly, over long periods of time. These include things like next-generation propulsion systems, spacecraft to provide on-orbit refueling<\/a> systems and even \u201cgas stations\u201d<\/a> in orbit. <\/p>\n

Those calls, however, have been met with lukewarm response<\/a> from Space Force brass. The service\u2019s fiscal 2026 budget originally contained<\/a> no funds for what it calls \u201cSpace Access, Mobility and Logistics\u201d or SAML, but according to Pentagon budget documents, the Trump administration\u2019s final request included $14.5 million.<\/p>\n

Whiting explained that in all other domains \u201cmilitary forces are built to enable maneuver warfare, in which movement and maneuver are used to generate a decisive advantage on the battlefield.\u201d This needs to be the same in space, he said, for both defensive and offensive purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike the past, Space operations today aren\u2019t just about getting from point A to point B. They\u2019re about maneuvering for advantage. They\u2019re about choosing your path with purpose, making moves that surprise your opponents, protect your mission and maximize your lifespan,\u201d Whiting said. \u201cIf a satellite has limited fuel, it can\u2019t just swerve to avoid threats or chase new opportunities without sacrificing its mission life. It becomes predictable, vulnerable and easy for [adversaries].\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Whiting elaborated, if a satellite could \u201cmaneuver freely, changing routes on a whim, making such invasive moves or repositioning itself unpredictably,\u201d it could then move \u201cto gain the upper hand, or even go on the offensive if necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s maneuvering for advantage: moving not just to survive, but to outsmart, outpace and outfight any potential opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his wide-ranging presentation, Whiting also provided updates on a number of SPACECOM\u2019s recent efforts \u2014 including progress in fleshing out Operation Olympic Defender (OOD)<\/a>. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom participate in OOD, which is essentially a plan for how those allies will fight together in space as a multinational force.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe reached initial operational capability, or IOC, earlier this year, together; we\u2019ve conceptualized requirements for our multinational course; developed the first MNF [multinational force] OOD concept of operations; outlined national contributions in the MNF OOD operational order; and created a space domain awareness conference,\u201d he said. And this spring<\/a>, the OOD allies had signed off on their \u201cfirst ever\u201d campaign plan with an eye to achieving full operational capability, he added.<\/p>\n

SPACECOM also completed its missile warning\/missile defense data fusion pilot launched last year and managed by the Joint Operations Center<\/a>, Whiting said. The effort involved integrating numerous data streams into a common operating pictures \u2014 what he called \u201ca single pane of glass\u201d \u2014 that in effect was able to get \u201cmore bandwidth into the brains of our analysts and operators for faster, more accurate analysis, and ultimately better, quicker decision making.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next SPACECOM pilot project for data fusion \u201cwill expand on this foundation by incorporating a suite of space attack assessment tools to enhance combat and level assessments tasking and planning capabilities in a protracted conflict,\u201d Whiting said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SMD 2025 \u2015 US Space Command is amping up calls for new on-orbit mobility capabilities to allow satellites…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[37607,45914,45915,79,45916,193,45917,45820,11716,45918,7575],"class_list":["post-61899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-missile-defense","tag-mobility-and-logistics-saml","tag-operation-olympic-defender","tag-science","tag-smd-2025","tag-space","tag-space-access","tag-space-command","tag-space-force","tag-space-mobility","tag-us-space-force"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}