Space on demand: Pentagon pushes for smaller satellites, faster launches.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: SPACE TECHNOLOGY

As the Roadrunner satellite breaks the horizon, an Army officer sends a command through the network asking the spacecraft to point its camera to an area over a mountain ridge to the east. He wants to know who or what is facing his troops before they launch an attack.

By the time the satellite leaves his line of sight a few minutes later, the officer already has an image on his terminal.

This is one of several operational experiments being carried out this year by the Roadrunner satellite, also known as TacSat-2.

Roadrunner is the vanguard of an Air Force initiative known as "operationally responsive space." The idea is to break down the barriers impeding the flow of information between commanders on the ground and spacecraft, and to quickly replace assets damaged in orbit.

The concept made the leap from buzzword to a stated goal this spring when U.S. Strategic Command and the Defense Department's executive agent for space, Air Force undersecretary Ronald Sega, released the "Plan for Operationally Responsive Space." In May, an office by the same name had a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

"New approaches to methods, development and acquisition are necessary to attain ORS capabilities ... " the plan stated.

The concept will indeed require a substantial overhaul in the way space programs are carried out. Military and spy satellites are expensive, take years to develop and deploy, and don't enjoy the best reputation on Capitol Hill. The programs are often behind schedule and over budget.

The Chinese military inadvertently gave the ORS program a boost in January when it successfully destroyed one of its own satellites. The anti-satellite test galvanized support in Congress for the concept, said Theresa Hitchens, director of the Center for Defense Information, a Washington-based think tank.

"I think the Chinese test has refocused a lot of eyeballs on a lot of things in space and one of them is operationally responsive space," said Hitchens. "I do think Congress is going to be interested in trying to push the Air Force forward with some of these concepts."

The plan calls for a three-tiered approach to respond to the needs of commanders in the field.

Once a need has been established, the ORS office, which is under Stratcom, must check to see if already existing space-based assets can provide the required service in either minutes or within a few days.

If an existing satellite is knocked out for some reason, the second tier allows for the office to launch a replacement within days or weeks.

This response calls for rapid construction of small satellites, rapid launch and rapid in orbit check-out. The key word is "rapid"--a major shift in the way the U.S. military has deployed space-based assets. Building and launching spacecraft currently takes years, not days or weeks.

Tier-3 comes into play when no existing tier-1 or tier-2 alternative is handy. That calls for the rapid development and deployment of a space-based asset within "months to one year" of the request.

These on-demand satellites are merely meant to augment or temporarily replace big systems. So they may not have all the capabilities of the more complex spacecraft--but they should have enough survivability and operational features to serve as stopgaps. They must use existing ground stations and other communications infrastructures. And became of their short lifespan--one year as opposed to six or more for larger satellites--they do not need to carry as much fuel or need to be as "hardened" for the harsh space environment, proponents of the plan have said.

Joseph Rouge, associate director of the national security space office, said it's wrong to assume that operationally responsive space is all about small satellites. The bulk of the requests should leverage existing space capabilities as spelled out in tier-1. "How do I use the systems I have today in a more...