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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is working to develop a new generation of military satellites designed to maneuver unpredictably through space, in contrast to the traditional approach of parking spacecraft in fixed orbits where they can be easily targeted by adversaries.
“Maneuver is pretty critical to warfighting,” said Kelly Hammett, director of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (Space RCO), an organization within the Space Force based at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Speaking at a recent Mitchell Institute event, Hammett laid out a roadmap for what the military calls “dynamic space operations,” a catchall for orbital maneuvers considered too fuel-intensive or technically impractical for traditional satellites. The U.S. military now wants spacecraft that don’t just park and transmit, but move and respond to threats.
U.S. Space Command has publicly discussed the concept of dynamic space operations, and the Space RCO is now moving ahead with the development of actual hardware to implement the strategy.
Dynamic operations reflect a shift in how the U.S. military views space: not just as a static support domain, but as a contested environment where rivals like China and Russia are deploying anti-satellite capabilities and spacecraft that can stalk or even interfere with U.S. assets.
The Space RCO plans to develop geostationary satellites that would serve as testbeds for the dynamic operations concept. They would demonstrate not only maneuverability but the software and ground systems needed to make such operations routine.
The Space RCO’s work is still in early stages, and Hammett did not provide an estimated timeline for the launch of these maneuverable spacecraft, which he described as the agency’s “first full-up satellites.”
Geostationary orbit, about 22,000 miles above the Earth’s equator, is where satellites stay fixed over a single point on the globe. It’s a good place for persistent surveillance, missile warning and communications. But it also makes satellites sitting ducks if an adversary knows exactly where they’ll be.
Most commercial satellites in GEO are designed to “sit in their slot,” Hammett said, referring to the practice of holding fixed orbital positions to avoid interference with neighboring spacecraft. “There really isn’t much of a marketplace” yet for maneuverable GEO satellites, he added.
Still, there’s growing interest from startups and defense-focused aerospace firms that see a future in spacecraft capable of repositioning, inspecting unknown objects or simulating combat-like training scenarios in orbit.
To that end, the Space RCO has issued a request for information to industry for “high thrust, high delta-V” satellites, or spacecraft capable of meaningful changes in velocity, a requirement for frequent maneuvering. Hammett emphasized the need to leverage as much commercial technology as possible, both for Space RCO programs and for larger procurement efforts by Space Systems Command.
Central to the dynamic space operations concept is not just the spacecraft but the infrastructure to command and control them. The Space RCO and the Space Systems Command are developing the R2C2 “Rapid Resilient Command and Control” cloud-native platform.
Built atop Amazon Web Services’ cloud architecture, R2C2 would allow Space Force operators to manage constellations from virtually anywhere. “Because it’s cloud based, it doesn’t have to be assigned to a particular building at a Space Force base,” Hammett said. “You can put ops centers wherever you need.”
R2C2 also would allow tiered security access and seamless integration with training, simulations and live missions, said Hammett. “They will have a training ground, where you can use non-operational assets to exercise all types of missions … and actually have an on-orbit testing range.” Importantly, the same system will be used for both training and real-world operations to minimize friction, he said.
The Space RCO has already tapped about 20 vendors to support the R2C2 program under task orders worth up to $1 billion over a five-to-seven year ordering period.
R2C2 will first be used to control experimental satellites, such as those flown under the Space Test Program, as well as future maneuverable spacecraft. It’s government-owned but commercially hosted — an approach intended to reduce the cost and complexity of launching bespoke software stacks for every new mission.
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