As the Space Cadre Readiness Officer for Navy Cyber Forces, I am frequently asked the question: “What is the Navy Space Cadre, and what do they do for the warfighters?” This article outlines the need for space professionals in the Navy and describes some of the major functions of the Navy Space Cadre.
Prior to 1957 (the launch of Sputnik I) there were no man-made satellites. Navy ships communicated via wireless UHF and HF radios, mostly by voice or Morse code. Intelligence and surveillance activities were performed by submarines and aircraft, which were vulnerable to attack and could not get close to the sovereign territory of other nations. We predicted weather using balloons, aircraft, and scientific guesses. We navigated the oceans by dead reckoning in daylight and by the stars at night.
Over the past 60 years the Navy has come to rely on the significant operational and tactical advantages afforded by our national assets in space. Satellites allow us to see and talk over the horizon and around the world. Digital communications via satellite provide high data rates and high security. We can look into our adversary’s territory without putting American lives at risk. We can see a third of the planet at once from geosynchronous orbit and spot hurricanes thousands of miles away. We can fly a pilotless airplane around the world and track it to within a yard or two.
To most of us in the Navy, it seems that the United States has mastered the space domain: just look what we can do! But we tend to take our space capabilities for granted. We tend to think they have always been there for us, and that they will always be there for us. If asked “what would you do without those satellites to help you” we tend to think it is someone else’s problem. Fact is, we need to continuously address that problem in order to stay ahead of our potential adversaries. Just as militaries throughout history have fought for control of the land, of the sea, and of the air, we must be prepared to fight for control of space.
While international law prohibits warfighting “in” space, the 21st century is rapidly becoming an era where national and non-traditional forces are fighting “over” space. Jamming of satellite signals including GPS and SATCOM is a growing threat. The recent increase in the number of satellites in orbit is causing congestion of critical orbital regimes. As foreign countries build and launch satellites in greater numbers, with more and more advanced capabilities, U. S. ships, aircraft, submarines, and ground forces are no longer free from foreign space-based surveillance. The Navy is particularly dependent on space to support information transport, missile warning, and precision navigation and targeting; and where the Navy used to enjoy an operational advantage because no one could observe us unexpectedly, satellite proliferation means we can be watched wherever we go.
So, it’s clear we need to know what’s at stake in the space domain. We need to know what we can do, how we can best utilize the capabilities that are up there. We also need to know what the enemy can do, and how they will use their satellites, or how they can turn our dependence on space into their advantage. More than ever, we need space expertise in order to effectively operate in and through the space domain.
The Navy Space Cadre has this expertise. Navy Space Cadre personnel have the knowledge
and skills that will enable us to maintain the tactical and operational advantages we currently enjoy through space. There are two branches of the Navy Space Cadre Officer corps: Space Acquisitions professionals and Space Operations professionals.
Space Acquisitions
Space acquisitions accounts for 40 percent of the Space Cadre officer billets in the Navy. These officers are embedded in Navy and national satellite engineering offices and perform a variety of functions from requirements development, to satellite construction, to testing, launch, and on-orbit evaluation. They work alongside government and contract engineers who prepare satellites for their missions in space. Most importantly, they ensure that the satellites built and launched with taxpayer dollars provide the maximum benefit to all the services, including the unique requirements of the Navy. Without Navy Space acquisitions professionals, satellite designers would not be able to build systems that can integrate with Navy surface and air systems.
Space Operations
The other 60 percent of the Space Cadre is aligned to Space Operations, which encompasses everything our military does to employ satellites for military missions. Navy Space Operations professionals combine their experience of traditional Navy missions with extensive knowledge of space capabilities. While it’s impossible to describe all of Navy Space Operations in a few pages, here are a few of the major categories: Satellite Operations, Joint Space Operations, Afloat Space Operations, and Space Requirements Analysis.
Satellite Operations
The Navy has operated a wide array of satellites over the past 60 years, necessitated by the Navy’s unique requirements for beyond-line-of-sight communications, over-the-horizon surveillance, and precision navigation. This traditional mission continues at the Naval Satellite Operations Center (NAVSOC) at Point Mugu, California. As USSTRATCOM-designated Satellite Control Authority, NAVSOC is responsible for the safe operation of these satellite constellations, which provide essential narrowband communications to tactical forces around the world. For more about what NAVSOC does, see Lt. Arvizo’s story at the end of this article.
Joint Space Operations
While the Air Force performs the bulk of the work needed to support military space missions, all space assets must be shared jointly by all the services. For this reason, a contingent of Navy Space Cadre officers is embedded in the staff of the Joint Force Component Commander for Space (JFCC-Space) and at the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), which executes space tasking to support forces around the globe.
On the JSpOC watch floor, Navy Space Cadre officers provide situational awareness to satellite operators and military commanders on what’s “going on” above the Earth. They also serve as the clearinghouse for joint force commanders to request space support based on current operational requirements. When the Navy has a particular need for space capabilities, the Navy contingent at JFCC-Space understands the Navy-specificmission requirements.
Afloat Space Operations
Navy Space Operations officers provide insight into Navy mission planning and execution, ensuring that afloat commanders understand the advantages and disadvantages of working with space-based resources. They evaluate tactical and operational plans and point out vulnerabilities that must be mitigated; they generate requests for information (RFIs) and request space support when necessary to ensure commanders make decisions based on the best possible information. With highly specialized training and knowledge, a Navy Space Operations officer knows where to go to maintain the Navy’s advantage in space.
Space Requirements Analysis
Navy Space Cadre officers abound in Navy and joint service functional staffs including OPNAV, STRATCOM and Fleet Cyber Command. Here, they translate Navy and joint capability gaps into actionable solutions that can be provided by satellites currently on-orbit, or more long-range solutions that will drive the performance of the next generation of military spacecraft. These more senior Space Cadre officers also produce overarching Navy and joint policies that drive space readiness, manpower and training. They look years down the road to anticipate what the future of the Navy, and of space, will be like.
Being a part of the Space Cadre means specializing in complex topics like physics, engineering, technology, and the electromagnetic spectrum — all of which have unique characteristics when it comes to space. The Space Cadre member at a particular command or on a particular planning team brings insight that will not be afforded by anyone else. As important as space is to the Navy, so important is this expertise. Now that space is an essential part of Naval operations, we can’t afford to take it for granted.
Naval Satellite Operations Center
Underway with the Fleet, Supporting the Joint Warfighter
By Lt. Cmdr. Adrian Arvizo, NAVSOC
Realizing that many of the satellites operated by NAVSOC have been on-orbit well beyond their design life, and that geosynchronous orbit is increasingly congested, careful maintenance and monitoring is required.
NAVSOC’s team must be prepared to take immediate action if a problem occurs to ensure a satellite does not become stranded on-orbit, posing a danger to other geosynchronous satellites as they drift. For this reason, the NAVSOC team takes every precaution to maneuver dying satellites out of their geosynchronous orbit before it is too late. This process of decommissioning a satellite is known as “super-syncing”; an example which occurred with UFO-5, when it suffered a major anomaly in October 2012.
Previously, UFO-5 (launched in May 1995) provided UHF and EHF satellite communications to Joint warfighters in the NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM areas of responsibility. The on-orbit anomaly caused a loss of command and control, and forced NAVSOC to attempt an immediate recovery. Luckily, the NAVSOC team was able to recover and regain control of the satellite in a timely manner; however, it could no longer be considered reliable.
This failure mandated “super-sync” of the satellite, in order to prevent stranding it on-orbit. Upon obtaining concurrence/approval from the Joint Functional Component Commander for Space (JFCC-Space), Fleet Cyber Command/Commander TENTH Fleet (FCC/C10F), U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT), and Naval Network Warfare Command (NNWC), NAVSOC rapidly executed the “super-sync” operation.
The first “super sync” step was turning off the UHF and EHF payloads. Thrusters were then fired to increase the orbit beyond geosynchronous orbit into a“graveyard” orbit. Lastly, upon arrival in the “graveyard” orbit, the remaining propellant was expelled from the spacecraft, and all systems were turned off.
With UFO-5 safely out of geosynchronous orbit, NAVSOC relocated another satellite into the same location, continuing to provide critical satellite communications to NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM users
FOR MORE NAVY INFORMATION DOMINANCE NEWS
FCC/10TH FLEET – http://www.fcc.navy.mil/
NAVCYBERFOR – http://www.cyberfor.navy.mil/
Reprinted with permission from the Spring 2014 edition of InfoDomain, the official online magazine of Navy Cyber Forces.