The ability of USAF to collaborate with allies, industry, academia, and other services around a unified space mission is gaining momentum, according to a panel on interoperability in space at ASC16. Thanks in part to “strong global partnerships and alliances,” a “level of coherence at the senior decision-making level” has focused space operations around the critical category of “threat,” said Winston Beauchamp, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for Space. Crucial in producing this missional consensus has been a shift toward thinking of space “as an operational domain” where “potential adversaries are testing capabilities against our space assets,” Beauchamp added. While admitting that challenges remain—especially in sharing information across widely varying levels of classification—Beauchamp was optimistic enough about the progress to discount the necessity of a new unified US Space Command. Such a reorganization would mean time wasted “arguing about office space instead of how to protect space,” according to Beauchamp.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
