You Can't Spell Space Control ASAT" Any More."

Abstract : In the future, the success of U.S. military operations will depend, in part, on operational designs which overcome the enemy's capability to exploit the military utility of commercial space technologies. U.S. forces will find themselves constrained by traditional space control strategies focused on the destruction of space systems. The United States may have the capability to destroy these systems, but the strategy may not be feasible when U.S. forces are co-dependent on the system, or the system is owned by someone other than the adversary. The safe assumption will be that hostile forces will attempt to incorporate these technologies to the maximum extent possible. It is imperative that planners understand not only the impact of commercial space systems exploitation, but also realistic means of countering it, if they hope to produce and execute viable operational plans. When strategic or diplomatic approaches prove inadequate, the operational commander must be fully aware of, and ready to employ his organic space control capabilities. The operational commander may find himself constrained by the inability to eliminate commercial space systems, but if he fails to address their potential capabilities in his operational design, the results could be devastating.