'Responsive space' office must quickly prove itself, proponents say.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: STRATEGIC COMMAND

OMAHA, NEB. -- U.S. Strategic Command's operationally responsive space office opened its doors at Kirtland, N.M. Air Force Base in May. Although the paint has barely dried, its proponents said that it's already time for the office to make good on what the concept promises: the delivery of space-based services to field commanders in days or weeks, rather than months or years.

Josh Hartman, a former Capitol Hill staffer who helped write the legislation authorizing the new office, said the organization needs to search for some "low-hanging fruit" to prove its value to the rest of the defense community.

"The next year and a half will be critical in deciding the success of ORS," said Hartman, who now serves a senior advisor to the undersecretary of defense, acquisition, technology and logistics.

As of October, the office had a staff of three officers to prove, what Hartman called, the "naysayers and doubters" wrong.

The operationally responsive space concept calls for a three-tiered approach to quickly answer the demands of combatant commanders. The office can leverage existing capabilities--for example re-tasking a remote sensing satellite to provide reconnaissance photos.

If a vital satellite is damaged, the second tier calls for small launchers to send replacements into orbit within weeks or months. A third solution would be building a satellite to fill a capability gap within one year.

This is a radical change in the way the military has deployed its space assets, the concept's advocates admit. Its chief architect is the Defense Department's former executive agent for space, Air Force Undersecretary Ronald Sega.

His pointman, Joseph Rouge, associate director of the national security space office, said the new organization will have to have the "world's greatest Rolodex." When a request comes in, it should be able to call the best experts available and come up solutions within 30 days.

The officer appointed to this task is Air Force Col. Kevin McLaughlin. As the office's first director, he will inevitably be fighting turf battles and entrenched organizational bureaucracies, Hartman said.

"The foundation has been laid, but might be another five years before it reaches acceptance," he added.

The community will have to understand what the office can offer and the process for requesting services, Rouge said.

McLaughlin said the program is not a threat to big satellites. "It's a complimentary capability to what is already the best set of space...