Experts have confirmed that the U.S. Space Force and the U.S. Space Command are receiving increased authorities over offensive counterspace operations and other military activities and equipment, such as anti-satellite weapons, or ASAT, amid increasing threats from Russia and China.
Sources who spoke to Breaking Defense for an article posted Monday revealed that there has been a greater push for USSF and USSPACECOM leaders to have more control over ASAT weapons for years.
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Authority Over the Use of ASATs
According to people who have knowledge of the matter, control over the use of some temporary or reversible counterspace actions, such as jamming or lazing, has become less stringent over the last decade.
One former senior Pentagon space policy official explained that no one has delegated the responsibility of kinetically engaging with another country’s satellite before 2020. Now, some types of ASATs can be delegated under certain circumstances.
The source noted that “there are just too many combinations of possible effects and possible causes to come out with a blanket statement.”
Another former Pentagon official shared that the strongest push to authorize the head of SPACECOM to decide on potentially launching offensive counterspace capabilities came from the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Space Policy.
Rethinking Rules of Engagement in Orbit
An unnamed Air Force space policy expert told Breaking Defense that current rules of engagement are “in conflict” with efforts from Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations and three-time Wash100 Award winner, to ensure that military operators and civilian leaders look at the space domain as any other warfighting domain.
In a Space Warfighting framework published in April, the Space Force laid out its vision for achieving and maintaining space superiority and warned against overly restrictive ROE.
According to the framework, tightening ROE may potentially lead to Guardians relying on approval and hesitating to act, increasing risk for the mission and the entire Joint Force.
“It is the formative purpose of the Space Force to achieve space superiority — to ensure freedom of movement in space for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries,” Saltzman explained in a statement that accompanied the Space Warfighting framework. “We must be prepared to employ capabilities for offensive and defensive purposes to deter and, if necessary, defeat aggressors that threaten our vital national interests.”
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