Space Situation Awareness Operations

Abstract

Space Domain Awareness (SDA) is one of five core competencies of the Space Force and is the effective identification, characterization, and understanding of any factor, passive or active, associated with the space domain that could affect space operations and thereby impact the security, safety, economy, or environment of our nation. As the foundation for space control, SDA encompasses surveillance of all space objects and activities; detailed surveillance of specific space assets; monitoring space environmental conditions; monitoring cooperative space assets; gathering indications and warning on adversary space operations; and conducting integrated command, control, communications, processing, analysis, dissemination, and archiving activities. This program fields, upgrades, operationalizes, operates, and maintains Space Force sensors and information/data integration capabilities within the SDA network while companion program element 1206425SF, Space Situational Awareness Systems, develops new network sensors and associated information integration capabilities across the network. Activities funded in this program (1203940SF) focus on surveillance of objects in earth orbit and beyond to aid tasks including satellite tracking; space object identification; tracking and cataloging; satellite attack warning; notification of satellite flyovers to U.S. forces; space treaty monitoring; and technical intelligence gathering. As a whole, this program upgrades, modifies, modernizes, operationalizes, fields, operates, and maintains sensors and information integration capabilities for an integrated, end-to-end SDA architecture that provides critical national security space solutions on tactical operational timelines. The Space Data Fusion project (673940) develops and/or upgrades SDA data/data exploitation capabilities, to include Global Sensor Watch (GSW), TAPOUT, and Space Surveillance Telescopes, and provides Service Life Extension Programs (SLEPs) and pre-planned product improvement efforts to operational SDA capability. GSW, in partnership with Australia's Department of Defense, provides an integrated, end-to-end, SDA tip & cue capability that implements a resilient architecture providing overlapping, assured, and viable surveillance options for executing event response, SDA data processing at multiple classification levels, and automated, worldwide, cross-sensor tipping & cueing. TAPOUT is a tactical SDA system which consists of a Hardware Layer, a Data Layer, and an Application layer. The Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) provides rapid un-cued search, detection and tracking of dim objects in deep space, collecting data on all viewable objects in the Indio-Pacific region. The SDF project (673940) is supported by, and supports, the Joint Task Force Space Defense (JTF-SD) Commercial Operations (JCO) cell. The JCO's mission is to provide persistent and rapid SDA coverage to maximize decision making space and reduce reaction time in support of Protect & Defend missions. SDF commercial data buys beyond protect and defend missions support existing capabilities through improvements to architecture and system efficiency, cybersecurity, migration to cloud computing, building on artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) initiatives, and expanding agile software development, delivery, and integration practices. The Unified Data Library project (673941) supports integration, exploitation, and delivery of data sources for command and control and battle management of space forces. UDL will continue to develop the library by on-boarding new data sets, directly connecting to SDA sensors, expanding data services, federating between enterprise data lakes, expanding defensive cyber operations capabilities, adding non-metric data to the SDA marketplace, continuing to expand local area network capability to share Space Surveillance Network (SSN) data in a cyber-secure manner, purchase commercial data and services to support USSPACECOM operations, allow optimized data flow for use of existing SDA capability, and provide access to new commercial SDA innovations that will enable the broader SDA mission. The SF Weather Services Research project (67A018) funds the operational development necessary to acquire, sustain, and modernize Air Force Weather Service (AFWS) capabilities in support of the 2018 National Defense Strategy. AFWS provides timely, accurate, resilient, and relevant environmental information to enable global battlespace situational awareness for Air Force (AF), Army, Special Operations Forces (SOF), Space Force (USSF), combatant commands, the Intelligence Community (IC), and other government agencies. AFWS provides climate impacts and assessments, as well as space and terrestrial weather sensing, forecasting, and weather analytic capabilities, at home station and deployed, in order to deliver critical environmental intelligence in support of decision makers to gain the asymmetric advantage during the full spectrum of air and space combat operations. Space acquisition must respond with speed and agility to emerging adversary threats. Space Systems Command (SSC) has transformed the organization and implementation of space acquisition to an enterprise approach, to increase innovation and resiliency, leveraging international, commercial, and mission partnerships, and managing program/project priorities according to an integrated unclassified/classified enterprise space architecture. Expanding the appropriate acquisition authorities and contract mechanisms to deliver capability sooner, SSC will strategically execute experimentation, prototyping, risk reduction, and other efforts to develop new or re-purpose existing capabilities. This program element may include necessary civilian pay expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver weapon system capability. The use of such programs funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in program elements 1206392SF and 1206398SF. This program is in Budget Activity 7, Operational System Development because this budget activity includes development efforts to upgrade systems that have been fielded or have received approval for full rate production and anticipate production funding in the current or subsequent fiscal year.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2024
• Source ID: 1203940SF_7_3620F_PB_2024
• Change Summary Explanation: FY 2023: +10.000 Congressional add for Unified Data Library. FY 2024: -0.523 to realign funding to APPN 3410, PE 1207804SF (SAG 13C), for fiscal policy compliance as Space Systems Command (SSC) establishes Headquarters functions and a Chief Information Office (CIO) for integrated cybersecurity. FY 2024: +35.960 increase to Unified Data Library to accelerate integration of space data and enable real-time access to interoperable data in support of warfighting operations. FY 2024: +17.90 increase to Space Data Fusion for commercial data buys beyond Protect and Defend missions. FY 2024: +131.40 increase to Unified Data Library for expansion of sensor communication upgrades. Upon FY 2024 funds appropriation, funding will be executed within Project 673940 (Space Data Fusion). FY 2024: +0.519M inflation increase for non-pay and non-fuel purchases.
• Service Agency Name: Air Force

Entities

Organizations

• United States Air Force

Tags

Communities of Interest

• C4I
• Cyber
• Engineered Resilient Systems (Alumni COI)
• Kinetic Weapons
• Sensors
• Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Artificial Intelligence
• Artificial Satellites
• Command And Control
• Cross Domain
• Data Analysis
• Department Of Defense
• Environment
• Information Systems
• National Security
• Situational Awareness
• Software Development
• Space Environments
• Space Objects
• Space Situational Awareness
• Space Systems
• United States Government
• Warfare

Readers

• Aerospace Engineering.

Technology Areas

• AI & ML
• AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy
• Cyber
• Fully Networked C3
• Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
• Space
• Space - Space Objects