Space Command leader calls for better domain awareness tools by 2027 | Space

To protect against threats from Russia and China, U.S. Space Command needs more advanced tools to track what’s happening in space as well as satellites that can move freely in the domain by 2027, according to its commander, Gen. Stephen Whiting.

Those capabilities will be crucial to military operations, Whiting said, as both Russia and China have tested and built weapons that could threaten U.S. space operations in the near future. He pointed specifically to Russia’s development of a nuclear space weapon and China’s recent launch mishaps that have created a cloud of debris in low Earth orbit.

“We must heed the clear signals from our strategic competitors,” Whiting said Wednesday in a speech at the Defence Space Conference in London. “When someone tells you what they are preparing to do, believe them. We must prepare accordingly to safeguard our collective interests in space.”

The Space Force, which is responsible for developing and buying capabilities to meet Space Command requirements, has a number of efforts underway to help operators better characterize and track objects in orbit — whether it’s a debris field or an adversary satellite or weapon. The service today relies on the more than 50-year-old Space Defense Operations Center for this mission but plans to replace that capability by the end of next year.

On the maneuverability side, the service is…