For those interested in the topic, Jim Bennett, the author of this piece about it, will be discussing it on The Space Show this afternoon from 2 to 3:30 PST.
One thought on “Space Guard”
Comments are closed.
For those interested in the topic, Jim Bennett, the author of this piece about it, will be discussing it on The Space Show this afternoon from 2 to 3:30 PST.
Comments are closed.
I think the Coast Guard analogy is getting stretched a bit here. The USCG doesn’t own the ports nor does it contract for shipping or operate ships other than its own. It does protect the ports, conduct safety inspections, perform search & rescue, enforce maritime rules and tasks on those lines.
If Space Guard were modeled after the USCG, it would do similar tasks for space. It wouldn’t own the spaceports but it would protect the facilities, perform safety inspections (per Outer Space Treaty of 1967 liability concerns), and enforce the rules. Military space situational awareness (SSA) involves intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, environment and friendly force status. Space Guard’s SSA contributions would likely be centered on space surveillance and environment.
The article was slightly wrong about who in the military is responsible for SSA. That mission falls under Strategic Command’s Joint Forces Combatant Commander for Space (JFCC-Space) and takes place at the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) at Vandenberg AFB, CA. The Air Force is the major contributor to the JSpOC with the 14th AF and 614th AOC but it is a joint assignment with members of other services working there.