After tests go well, NRO director looks to start replacing JSTARS aircraft with orbital sensors.
The
National Reconnaissance Office is gearing up to launch new satellites that will
enable the U.S. military and intelligence community to track moving vehicles
and people from space.
The Air
Force wants to replace its aging E-8 JSTARS aircraft, which provide targeting
data, with more survivable space assets and hand off a part of the ground
moving target indicator mission, called GMTI, to satellites.
The NRO
already put satellites into orbit to test out the concept—and now the agency is
ready to launch satellites for operations, said Christopher Scolese, director
of the NRO.
“The
prototypes went up there. They were delivered in about 36 months from concept
to launch, have operated fine, and we have exercised with Space Force and the
other services, to prove their capability and that we’re able to move on to
production,” Scolese said Wednesday at the National Security Innovation Base
Summit, hosted by the Ronald Reagan Institute.
The NRO
did not disclose when they would start launching the new satellites, or when
the systems would be operational.
The
agency is developing the program with the Space Force, whose operators will fly
the new satellites and point the sensors.
While
unclassified details about the program are sparse, the Space Force plans to
work with the NRO to “develop and field GMTI system” in fiscal year 2025,
according to budget documents.
The
service is requesting $244 million in its 2025 budget for its “Long Range Kill
Chains” program, which includes the GMTI effort and “auxiliary payloads,” and
it plans to spend more than $1.2 billion over the next few years.
“Space-based
GMTI system will provide actionable information on adversary surface targets to
the warfighter through the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) as an
integral part of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept. The USSF
is working with the Air Force and the intelligence community in a complementary
way to design, develop, and deploy space-based GMTI systems,” according to
documents.
However,
Space Force officials have said that the GMTI program can’t move forward until
Congress passes a fiscal 2024 budget because the effort is a new start in last
year’s budget request.
***Audrey
Decker is the air warfare reporter for Defense One. She previously reported for
Inside Defense, where she reported on the Navy and emerging defense technology.
She's a graduate of the University of Maryland.