Using infrared satellites,
every rocket and missile launch anywhere
in the world is immediately tracked here.
That's a warning, officer rich situation.
This is the missile warning officer at a
time of 0938Z at the US Space Command Joint
Operations Center in Colorado Springs.
That scene comes from a new NBC
documentary called Battlefield
Space to the Moon and beyond.
The documentary gives an inside
look into the headquarters for
the US Space Force as we prepare
for a return to the Moon. And
joining us now the man behind the
documentary, NBC's Tom Costello.
We always have to say former 9 Newser.
We don't want to just give
NBC all the credit, but Tom,
we know you've spent a lot of time here
in Colorado on space related coverage.
Yes, that's right on space this year.
So tell us about our unique.
Eyes, Colorado to this documentary.
Well, Space Command is
based in Colorado Springs.
We were the first cameras
ever allowed inside Space
Command to see them in action.
And what they do,
as I said just there in that clip,
is they watch every rocket launch,
every missile launch, anywhere in the world.
It could be Taiwan, it could be Ukraine,
it could be Russia.
They know where every single
one of them is separately.
We've also been down to the Space
Force headquarters in Colorado
Springs and they've got a very big
job among the jobs that they have.
They watch every GPS satellite.
Because the military controls all
GPS satellites that then provide
that coverage to the whole world.
But we are in a very,
very precarious situation right
now because we've already seen
Russia and China fire on and blow
up their own satellites in space
to create massive debris fields.
And really that was a display
of offensive capabilities.
The concern is if things got
rough between us and the Chinese
or the Russians that they could
turn those offensive capabilities
on American satellites.
And so we talked to.
Generals about exactly
that concern what I ask,
do we have offensive capabilities?
the United States,
the top four-star commanding generals
say I would rather not answer that
read into that however you want,
but it's we got unprecedented
access over the last year looking
at America's space program,
not just NASA but also the military
components as we do go from Earth to
low Earth orbit and then to the moon.
And the,
you know,
the Chinese have already built a
robotic base on the far side of the moon.
And are talking about their own
astronauts on the moon right after we
put ours there in the next five years.
Tom, some of us remember all the way
back to Mercury in the space race.
And it was always thought that space
was in fact the military high ground.
And then for decades it seemed like more
that that space was more about science,
technology, exploration.
Is this arching back into something
where military high ground that
that space is becoming a future
or seen as a future battlefield.
Well, that's the concern.
And when I've talked to military commanders,
they say yes. In fact, yes,
space is now a potential battlefield,
which is really disheartening for
those of us who grew up idolizing
the Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and
Captain Kirk for that matter. Right.
You want it to be someplace that is,
that is, in fact, for peaceful means.
However, there's a space
between the Earth and the moon.
It's called cislunar,
and that is the area right
now where the concern is.
The Chinese want to put some
sort of capability.
You could decide what kind of capability,
but any capability that potentially
would include a a weapon is of
concern to the United States.
So now the US is rushing satellites
into cislunar and there's a company
there in Colorado and Westminster.
I was just there profiling them,
and they have now put a very small
satellite about the size of a microwave
into cislunar orbit around the moon.
And part of their job is to watch
to see what the Chinese are doing.
So it's already happening
and it's happening at a very,
very quick clip and that's where
we're that's where we're going
with this documentary.
And I should tell you it's
streaming on NBC News now live.
It's also on YouTube,
it's called Battlefield
Space and it's on Peacock.
So we've gotten a lot of,
you know,
we're taking full advantage of
all of our platforms at NBC News.
That's what we're going
to ask you great, great
people to catch the the show,
certainly learn a lot about space.
Tom, it's always good to visit with you.
Have a great Christmas and we look
forward to seeing you again back
here in Colorado real soon. Thanks.