Space Rules of Engagement

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

We need international norms of behavior in space, and we must define what those are across the world, Air Force Space Command Commander Gen. John Hyten said Feb. 25 at AWS16. “We’ve done that in every other domain we operate in,” Hyten said. Those norms are important, he said, because it’s hard to develop rules of engagement without international norms. “As we walk into this contested environment in space, I need to give very specific rules of engagement to the space operators in Air Force Space Command. Everybody that operates in space needs to have rules of engagement.” Hyten also spoke about the role of the military in space traffic management, saying that he believes the Federal Aviation Administration can have a role, but USAF will still have to operate the space surveillance network. “We’re going to continue to do the mission of space situational awareness. We have to do that mission for now and forever.”

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org