Don't Forget Access: Space Launch Critical for Military Transformation

Abstract

The Secretary of Defense has identified the strengthening of Joint Warfighting capabilities and the transformation of Joint forces as among his top priorities. United States Joint Forces Command is dedicated to providing Joint context for Service-developed capabilities and to exploring transformative military capabilities. Recently, Joint Force Command's Joint Experimentation Directorate (J9) completed a study that is especially relevant to Space operators in the Army and throughout the other Services. This analysis, titled "Space Access as a Critical Enabler for Future Joint Warfighting" examines Space lift requirements for the future Joint force and considers alternatives to current chemical propulsion Space access strategies. Project Alpha was established by Joint Experimentation as a "rapid analysis" group designed to scout the future and identify high-impact ideas in the area of Joint force transformation. The ideas and technologies examined by the Project Alpha analysis team are often unconventional and rarely mature; therefore, the purpose of a Project Alpha rapid assessment process is to endorse and refine an idea's potential rather than to establish an acquisition program.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA525666

Entities

People

  • Gary Trinkle
  • Jeffrey Becker

Organizations

  • United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Earth Orbits
  • Gas Guns
  • Geosynchronous Orbits
  • Guns
  • Launch Vehicles
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Materials Science
  • Microsatellites
  • Military Operations
  • Orbits
  • Payload
  • Small Satellites
  • Spacecraft Orbits
  • United States
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.

Technology Areas

  • Space