A Shot to the Space Brain: The Vulnerability of Command and Control of Non-Military Space Systems

Abstract

The US military is becoming reliant on space systems. These systems provide us the essential information and communication means required to dominate the future battle-space. This reliance has extended beyond military programs, however, and now includes a reliance on commercial and civil systems. While this trend towards non-military systems is inevitable, does reliance on civil and commercial space systems create a unique center of gravity for the US military? This paper evaluates this issue by first identifying the need to use non-military systems and then developing a theory for analysis of realistic vulnerabilities of space systems. The focal point for this analysis is the command and control segment for a particular program. Four specific civil and commercial systems (Landsat, SPOT, Radarsat, and INTELSAT) are evaluated in light of this analysis. What results is an identification of system reliability based on the program drivers for a specific space system. The bottom line is that commercial and civil systems are more likely to solve vulnerability problems rather than create them.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA394037

Entities

People

  • Sue B. Carter

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Astronautics
  • Business Administration
  • Command And Control
  • Communication Systems
  • Data Processing
  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Earth Orbits
  • Elliptical Orbits
  • Geosynchronous Satellites
  • Satellite Communications
  • Satellite Orbits
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Orbits
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • Computer Vision.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
  • Space