The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., plans on Jan. 25-26 to hold an industry discussion about development of a Space Based Space Surveillance Objective System. The proposed SBSS system would be a constellation of electro-optical sensing satellites that will search for, detect, and track objects in near earth and deep space orbits. It builds upon a 1996 concept demonstration called the Space Based Visible Telescope, which USAF deployed on the Mid-course Space Experiment satellite. The SBV telescope is approaching its end of life.
After a long period in which munitions were almost an afterthought and sacrificed to pay for other priorities, the Air Force needs to focus on them in order to have the right “package” of capabilities for future conflicts, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7.