The first Operationally Responsive Space satellite, ORS-1, has achieved its initial/final operational capability, announced Air Force Space Command boss Gen. William Shelton. The satellite, which reached orbit in June 2011, includes a modified version of the SYERS-2 electro-optical/infrared imagery sensor employed by the U-2 surveillance aircraft. The satellite is helping to bolster the situational awareness of troops in Afghanistan. “Feedback we have received from US Central Command is that they are very pleased with the performance of ORS-1 to date,” said Thom Davis, ORS-1 program manager at Kirtland AFB, N.M. He added, “It is meeting requirements we established at the start of the program and they [USCENTCOM] are now finding new uses for it, so it continues to be a big impact to their overall mission operations.” The 1st Space Operations Squadron and Air Force Reserve Command’s 7th SOPS, both at Schriever AFB, Colo., control the satellite. (Kirtland report by Michael Kleiman)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…