United States Space CommandUnited States Space CommandUnited States Space CommandUnited States Space CommandUnited States Space Command

VISIONVISIONVISIONVISIONVISIONFORFORFORFORFOR

20202020202020202020

Feb 1997

A Historic Perspective—the Evolution of Space

Historically, military forces have evolved to pro-tect national interests and investments -- both mili-tary and economic. During the rise of sea com-merce, nations built navies to protect and enhancetheir commercial interests. During the westwardexpansion of the continental United States, mili-tary outposts and the cavalry emerged to protectour wagon trains, settlements, and railroads.

The emergence of space power follows bothof these models. Over the past several decades,space power has primarily supported land, sea,and air operations--strategically and operation-ally. During the early portion of the 21st century,space power will also evolve into a separate andequal medium of warfare. Likewise, space forceswill emerge to protect military and commercialnational interests and investment in the spacemedium due to their increasing importance.

As air power developed, its primary pur-pose was to support and enhance land andsea operations. However, over time, airpower evolved into a separate and equalmedium of warfare.

Protection of Commerce

Land Threat

Sea Threat

Land Forces

Sea Forces

US NATIONALINTERESTS

AND INVESTMENTS

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US NATIONALINTERESTS

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US NATIONALINTERESTS

AND INVESTMENTS

Land, Sea andAir Threat

Space Threat

Protection of Commerce

Land, Sea and AirForces

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US NATIONALINTERESTS

AND INVESTMENTS

LANDLAND

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US NATIONALINTERESTS

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US NATIONALINTERESTS

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Joint V ision 2010

The medium of space is thefourth medium of warfare--along with land, sea, and air.Space power (systems, capa-bilities, and forces) will be in-creasingly leveraged to closethe ever-widening gap be-tween diminishing resourcesand increasing military com-mitments.

The Joint Vision 2010 op-erational concepts of domi-nant maneuver, precisionengagement, full-dimen-sional protection, and fo-cused logistics are enabledby information superiority andtechnological innovation. Theend result of these enablersand concepts is Full Spec-trum Dominance. Informa-tion superiority relies heavilyupon space capabilities to collect, process, anddisseminate an uninterrupted flow of informationwhile denying an adversary’s ability to fully lever-age the same.

The emerging synergy of space superiority withland, sea, and air superiority, will lead to Full Spec-trum Dominance. Spaceforces play an increas-ingly critical role in pro-viding situational aware-ness (e.g., global com-munications; precisenavigation; timely and

accurate missile warning and weather; and intel-ligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance [ISR])to US forces.

Space doctrine, organizations, training, ma-teriel, leadership, and personnel will evolve to fullyrealize the potential of space power. Space power

is a vital element in mov-ing towards the Joint Vi-sion goal of being per-suasive in peace, deci-sive in war, and preemi-nent in any form of con-flict.

“Joint Vision 2010 provides an operationally based template for the evolution of theArmed Forces for a challenging and uncertain future. It must become a benchmark forService and Unified Command visions.”

GEN John M. ShalikashviliChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Space power is vital to the attainment of Joint Vision2010 operational concepts

Information superiorityrelies heavily upon space

capabilities

ECONOMICECONOMIC

MILITARYMILITARY

POLITICALPOLITICAL

TECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGY

Although unlikely to be challenged bya global peer competitor, the United Stateswill continue to be challenged regionally.The globalization of the world economy willalso continue, with a widening between“haves” and “have-nots.” Acceleratingrates of technological development will beincreasingly driven by the commercial sec-tor -- not the military. Increased weaponslethality and precision will lead to new op-erational doctrine. Information-intensivemilitary force structures will lead to ahighly dynamic operations tempo.

Future T rends

Accelerating rates of change will createchallenges

Space TrendsSpace systems, commercial and

military, are proliferating throughout theworld. Space commerce is becoming in-creasingly important to the globaleconomy. Likewise, the importance ofspace capabilities to military operations isbeing widely embraced by many nations.

Indeed, so important are space sys-tems to military operations that it is unre-alistic to imagine that they will never be-come targets. Just as land dominance,sea control, and air superiority have be-come critical elements of current militarystrategy, space superiority is emerging asan essential element of battlefield successand future warfare.

The challenge extends to space

Space superiority is essential

Implications for US Space CommandThe political, economic, technological, and mili-

tary trends hold significant implications forUSSPACECOM. An increased dependence uponspace capabilities may lead to increased vulner-abilities. As space systems become lucrative mili-tary targets, there will bea critical need to controlthe space medium to en-sure US dominance onfuture battlefields. Ro-bust capabilities to en-sure space superioritymust be developed--justas they have been forland, sea, and air.

Our adversaries canbe expected to attainready access to space-derived informationthrough the proliferationof space systems. Turn-key space systems areavailable to nations withthe necessary resourcesallowing for significant in-creases in capabilities in a relatively short time.Military use of civil, commercial, and international

space systems will continue to increase. However,the military must preserve certain core space ca-pabilities, e.g., missile warning, assured spacecommunications, and large portions of ISR. Otherspace capabilities, once the domain of the mili-

tary, can reasonably mi-grate to the civil and com-mercial sectors, e.g.,weather, GPS, and multi-spectral imagery.

Space operationsmust be fully integratedwith land, sea, and air op-erations. USSPACECOMmust assume a dynamicrole in planning and ex-ecuting joint military op-erations. Included in thatplanning should be theprospects for space de-fense and even spacewarfare.

Development of ballis-tic missile defenses usingspace systems and plan-

ning for precision strike from space offers a counterto the worldwide proliferation of WMD.

Space as an Area of Responsibility (AOR)

Space is a region with increasing commercial, civil, inter-national, and military interests and investments. The threatto these vital systems is also increasing. The space AORis global and requires a combatant commander with a glo-bal perspective to conduct military operations and sup-port regional warfighting CINCs. USSPACECOM is theonly military organization with operational forces in space.Establishing space as an AOR merely states an opera-tional reality.

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US Space Commanspace dimension of

to protect US nati oinvestment. Integr ainto warfighting ca p

full spectru m

USSPACEC

Just as land, sea, and air warfarehas evolved, USSPACECOM, operat-ing in the space medium, will evolve toperform the missions required by thefuture environment foreseen in thetrends and implications on the preced-ing pages. This Vision charts a courseto purposeful and orderly change.

The two principal themes of theUSSPACECOM Vision are dominatingthe space medium and integratingspace power throughout military op-erations. Today, the United States isthe preeminent military space power.Our Vision is one of maintaining thatpreeminence -- providing a solid foun-dation for our national security.

VisionControl of Spa c

Global Engage m

Full Force Integr a

Global Partnersh i

d - Dominating themilitary operations

onal interests andating Space Forcespabilities across them of conflict.

COM Vision

Operational Concepts

To move towards the attainment ofour Vision, we have adopted four opera-tional concepts:

••••• Control of Space

••••• Global Engagement

••••• Full Force Integration

••••• Global Partnerships

These operational concepts providethe conceptual framework to transformthe Vision into capabilities.

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Dominating theSpace DimensionIntegratingSpaceForces

SpaceCommand

Control of Space

Control of Space isthe ability to assure ac-cess to space, freedomof operations within thespace medium, and anability to deny othersthe use of space, if re-quired.

The medium of spaceis recognized as thefourth medium of warfare.Joint operations requirethe Control of Space toachieve overall cam-paign objectives. TheControl of Space will en-compass protecting USmilitary, civil, and com-mercial investments inspace.

As commercial spacesystems provide global

information and nationstap into this source formilitary purposes, pro-tecting (as well as negat-ing) these non-militaryspace systems will be-come more difficult. Dueto the importance of com-merce and its effects onnational security, theUnited States may evolveinto the guardian ofspace commerce--similarto the historical exampleof navies protecting seacommerce.

Control of Space isa complex mission thatcasts USCINCSPACE ina classic warfighter roleand mandates an estab-lished AOR.

Control of Space Capabilities••••• Real-time space surveillance••••• Timely and responsive spacelift••••• Enhanced protection (military and

commercial systems)••••• Robust negation systems

The ability to dominate space

AssureAssureAccessAccess

• Spacelift• Satellite

Operations

SurveillanceSurveillanceof Spaceof Space

• Real Time• Precise• Complete ID

ProtectProtect• Active and

Passive• Self-

Protection

NegateNegate• Lethal and Non-Lethal• Temporary and Permanent• Destroy, Disrupt, Delay,

Degrade, Deny

US SpaceDominating the space dimension of military operations

Integrating Space Forces into warfighting

Global Engagement

Global Engagementis the application of pre-cision force from, to,and through space .USSPACECOM will havea greatly expanded roleas an active warfighter inthe years ahead as thecombatant command re-sponsible for NationalMissile Defense (NMD)and space force applica-tion. Global Engage-ment combines globalsurveillance with the po-tential for a space-basedglobal precision strikecapability.

The requirement forGlobal Engagement isbased upon the increas-ing proliferation of missilesystems, the requirementfor precision strike, and

the need for effective for-ward presence with re-duced forward basing.

The proliferation ofmissiles and weaponsof mass destruction(WMD) requires an NMD.NMD will evolve into amix of ground and spacesensors and weapons.

Existing land, sea,and air missions will beenhanced by space sys-tems. Current sea and airstrategic attack missionswill be augmented by thedeployment of spaceforce application sys-tems. Likewise, surfaceand air surveillance sys-tems (e.g., AWACS andJSTARS) will be aug-mented by space-basedsurveillance systems.

Global Engagement Capabilities

••••• Non-intrusive global surveillance••••• Key to National Missile Defense••••• Enhanced C2••••• Space-based strike weapons

Strategic Deterrent and Precision Strike

WorldwideWorldwideSurveillanceSurveillance

• Global Surveillance• Info Dominance

EmergingEmergingMissionsMissions

Some Land, Seaand Air MissionsMigrate to Space

Forces

NMDNMDOperationalOperational

• Space• Ground• Mix of Sensors

and Weapons

Precision StrikePrecision Strike• Support Terrestrial

Operations• Limited Space-Based

Earth Strike Weapons

Commandto protect US national interests and investment.capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict.

C4ISRC4ISR• Common Protocols &

Standards• Fused Databases• Sensor-to-Shooter

OrganizationOrganization• Planning and

Execution• Coalition

Interoperability

PeoplePeople• Education• Exercises• Training

OperationalOperationalConceptsConcepts

• Space “Smart”Operators

• Joint Space Forces

Joint Vision 2010Joint Vision 2010

US SpaceDominating the space dimension of military operations

Integrating Space Forces into warfighting

Full Force Integration

Truly joint military forces require fully integrated space power

Full Force Integra-tion is the integration ofspace forces andspace-derived informa-tion with land, sea, andair forces and their in-formation. The bottomline is that space powerwill contribute to gettingthe right military capabil-ity and information to theright people, at the rightplace, at the right time.

Space forces must befully integrated in all plan-ning, training, exercises,and operations. FullForce Integration in-

cludes the merging of in-formation and informationsystems into a “system ofsystems” approach. Thegoal is to achieve the samelevel of joint operations be-tween space and the othermediums of war-fighting asland, sea, and air currentlyenjoy today. Innovative or-ganizations, operationalconcepts, information flows,and people are key ele-ments of Full Force Inte-gration . Of these, the dedi-cated professionals that fillour ranks are our most in-dispensable assets.

Full Force Integration Capabilities

••••• Enhanced “sensor-to-shooter”••••• Common protocols, communications

standards, and fused databases••••• Precise modeling and simulation••••• “One-stop shop” for space support

CommercialCommercial•Consortiums•SATCOM•ERM, HSI,MSI

Military CoreMilitary Core

•Comm•ISR•Missile Warning

International International• European / Pacific

Communities• “NATO-like” Space

Organization• United Nations

Civil Civil• National

Labs• NOAA• FAA• NASA

A fundamental change in space operations

Global Partnerships

of advanced space sys-tems will be primarilydriven by the commercialsector

Constrained militaryspending

Growth in multi-nationaloperations and alliances

The most evident ben-efit of Global Partner-ships will be decreasedpressure on existing mili-tary infrastructure and op-erations, and reducedmaintenance costs by offloading functions to civiland commercial providers.The military can no longerrely solely upon DoDowned and operated capa-bilities.

Global Partnerships --a fundamental change in

providing military space support to the warfighter.

Global Partnershipsaugments militaryspace capabilitiesthrough the leveragingof civil, commercial,and international spacesystems . The growth ofnon-US military spacesystems provides the op-portunity for the UnitedStates to gain increasedbattlespace awarenessand information connec-tivity in a cost-effectivemanner. These partner-ships provide sharedcosts, shared risks, andincreased opportunities.

Global Partnershipsis based upon these fac-tors:

Dramatic growth incommercial and interna-tional space-based capabilities. The development

Global Partnerships Concepts••••• Sharing of space-based information••••• Influencing space system designs••••• Satellite sharing••••• Space system architectures to facilitate

rapid flow of information••••• International standardization

Commandto protect US national interests and investment.capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict.

Implementation

The United States Space Command’s SpacePlanning and Requirements System (SPRS) is theestablished process that will be used to implementthis Vision. This end-to-end planning system usesJoint Vision 2010, the National Security SpaceMaster Plan, and the United States Space Com-mand Vision as overarching guidance.

Annually, we assess current and future spacerequirements, capabilities, and shortfalls in sup-

port of all warfighters. With our Vision, we willextend our time horizons from the Future YearsDefense Plan to 2020. External organizations(e.g., CINCs, Services, National and Defense or-ganizations) provide valuable input throughout theSPRS process. We fully expect that our Visionand SPRS will drive long-term changes in spacedoctrine, organizations, training, materiel, leader-ship, and personnel.

For additional copies of this publication, or to comment on the Vision,contact:

US Space CommandDirector of PlansPeterson AFB, CO 80914-3110DSN 692-3498Comm (719) 554-3498

Visit our home page at www.spacecom.af.mil/usspace

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