The Department of Defense announced Tuesday it is expanding its Space-Track.org website in an effort to improve space situational awareness. New to the site will be the inclusion of “high-quality positional information on space debris of an unknown origin” to enable “owner-operators [to] better protect their satellites from objects and ultimately create less space debris,” states a release. Officials hope the new technology will reduce the threat of collisions in space. “There is also a high volume of debris smaller than the average fist that (JFCC Space) cannot track that are also on orbit today,” said Maj. Gen. David Thompson, US Strategic Command’s director of plans and policy at Offutt AFB, Neb. The space domain is occupied by public, private, commercial, and other governmental organizations, but there is no denying military reliance on accurate information about missile launch or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. “It’s understanding what’s there (in space), what (the object) is doing, and how it poses a threat to our military mission, to our ability to support joint forces and contribute to the global good,” Thompson said. “While space is a very big place, there are a lot of things up there.”
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
