Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman is confident the U.S. defense industry can develop space-based missile interceptors, he said in a prerecorded interview that streamed March 20.
Asked during the Defense One interview about America’s ability to solve perhaps the most complex, ambitious part of President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” air and missile defense system, Saltzman said he believed it would happen. ”I am so impressed by the innovative spirit of the American space industry,” Saltzman said. “I’m pretty convinced that we will be able to technically solve those challenges.”
Acknowledging the complexity of what Space Force Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton has called “no joke of a physics problem,” Saltzman said the challenge will be immense.
“There are a lot of technical challenges,” Saltzman said. “Because it’s not just that we want space-based interceptors. We want them in boost phase. We want them to achieve their effects as far from the homeland as possible. So they’ve got to be fast, they’ve got to be accurate.”
From the time a missile is launched, operators will have just a minute or two—perhaps only seconds—to launch a space-based interceptor. Interceptors in low-Earth orbit will reach the target faster because they’re closer; the downside is that the closer the interceptors are to Earth, the more of them will be needed to defend against attack.
The cost of a large constellation will be high, but worthwhile, Saltzman argued.
“I’m pretty sure they’re going to solve most of those technical problems,” Saltzman said. “So from that standpoint, I think it’s just about how fast can we leverage the technology and put it in place and test it, get a demo out there so we can see what’s possible.”
“To say it’s the responsibility of the U.S. government to protect its citizens from emerging threats makes perfect sense to me,” he said. “You clearly see countries like [China] investing heavily in these kinds of threats, whether it’s hypersonic, whether it’s threats from space. And so now it’s time for the U.S. government to step up to the responsibilities to protect American citizens from those threats.”
Saltzman has previously said he the Space Force will play a “central” role in Golden Dome, and on March 20, he argued that integrating multiple agencies’ efforts will be crucial.
“That’s a lot of things coming together,” he said. “So the biggest hurdle is integration. How does it all fit together? Can we make such a large effort come together seamlessly? … Because things are going to be happening at supersonic speeds. We’ve got to be able to make the right decisions and put the right data in the right hands of the right shooters.”
Saltzman did not say which agency should have the lead in that integration, however.
Commercial Strength
Saltzman’s confidence in industry was again apparent as he discussed the Space Force’s willingness to cancel or abandon large, legacy programs in favor of smaller, commercial solutions. Referring to USSF’s Commercial Space Strategy, he emphasized the service’s commitment to standardization open systems.
“We’ve really committed to open architectures. We’ve really committed to industry standards,” he said. “We’ve committed to using commercial products wherever we can: commercial busses and satellites, etc. What that’s allowed is a level of interaction between companies to support each other to develop mission capabilities.”
Now, in a bid to control costs and encourage competition, he said the service is eyeing new acquisition strategies.
“If you break the requirements up, it allows those entities to compete better,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be one big, integrated program that’s delivered. [It can be] a series of programs that work together. Smaller programs seem to go a little faster, because you can control the requirements. You control the dollars that are spent. The bigger programs start to get a little more unwieldy. So every chance we get to disaggregate the requirements as an opportunity to go a little faster, be a little better stewards of taxpayer dollars.”