The United States Space Force (USSF) officially activated and assigned U.S. Space Forces,
Indo-Pacific (USSPACEFOR-INDOPAC) to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in a ceremony at Camp
H.M. Smith under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir.
The Space Force on Nov 22 opened the regional command center at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii, to manage military space operations across the Indo-Pacific.
U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific is the first in a string of new command centers.
Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, the former commander of Space Launch Delta 30 (previously the 30th
Space Wing) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, and head of space forces in Air
Forces Central Command, will serve as the organization’s first commander.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why the US military is opening a regional Space
command center dedicated to the Indo-Pacific theater?
Let’s get into the details.
The United States Space Force is the space warfare service branch of the United States
Armed Forces.
The sixth and youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, it was the first branch of the
military established since the formation of the independent U.S. Air Force in 1947.
The direct antecedent of the Space Force, Air Force Space Command, was formed on 1 September
1982 with responsibility for space warfare operations.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 redesignated Air Force Space Command
as the U.S. Space Force and established it as an independent branch of the U.S. Armed
Forces on 20 December 2019
Teams and assets previously assigned to Air Force Space Command now form the core of the
new service The new command in Indo-Pacific has been in
the works for two years as the Space Force builds out its own warfighting enterprise.
USSPACEFOR-INDOPAC is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Hickam in Hawaii to maximize
synergy with USINDOPACOM headquarters and the existing Air Operations Center with U.S.
Pacific Air Forces.
In the last 5 years or so, the Indo-Pacific region assumed greater significance in the
United States’ foreign policy calculus.
This has been articulated in the ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy Report’ released by the US Department
of Defence.
The US considers the geographic expanse of the Indo-Pacific to stretch from its west
coast to the western coast of India.
The Indo-Pacific region took precedence because it is home to the most pressing national security
threats facing the United States.
A central mission for Space Force guardians in the Indo-Pacific will be to protect American
assets in orbit from physical and digital attack — particularly from China.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman emphasized at the command’s activation ceremony,
the importance of proper synchronization of Space Force with other service.
He added of China: “This is never more true than in this [region], where we find ourselves
competing against a thinking adversary who continues to field counter-space systems as
well as their own exquisite, space-based support systems for their increasingly capable terrestrial
forces.”
He added, “This is truly a historic moment for the
Space Force.
This is an important step as we normalize Space into the joint force.
Given today’s multi-domain character of war, Space must be deeply integrated with
the joint team.”
Brig. Gen. Mastalir said, “Space underpins every aspect of warfighting
here, where we must overcome the tyranny of distance on a daily basis, where space enables
access to otherwise denied areas, to increase range and lethality of our weapon systems,
and where space is key to our ability to project power at the time and place of our choosing,”
In his new role, Mastalir will report to Aquilino.
INDOPACOM boss Adm. John Aquilino credited the Space Force for enabling the “complete
synchronization” of American military forces across the vast Pacific Ocean in the face
of those challenges.
The Space Force will organize, train and equip troops to operate and maintain space systems
from satellites to rocket launch facilities.
It then provides those resources to a combatant command through its respective component,
like it will do for INDOPACOM through Space Forces Indo-Pacific.
Leaders within the combatant commands then use those available resources to execute required
operations.
Space-based assets have become a critical component.
We all know, GPS guidance is used by combat aircraft, warships as well as missiles.
In the Ukraine- Russia conflict, assets in space are playing a significant role, US satellite
intelligence data is helping Ukraine immensely.
Not only this, sometime back, a Ukrainian soldier identified as “Dima” and based
in the city of Dnipro had described Starlink’s impact during an interview with journalist
David Patrikarakos – noting the satellite-based broadband has made it more difficult for Russia
to interfere with communication.
Even before this conflict, the importance of space has been identified with fingers
being pointed at specific assets.
The head of a major Russian defense contractor Almaz-Antey, designer famous S-400 Trumf air
defense system, had said the U.S. Air Force’s unmanned X-37B spaceplane is a secret space
bomber that can drop nuclear warheads from orbit.
While the possibility that the X-37, and other aircraft based on similar technologies, could
be used for nuke delivery, has been raised multiple times, this time it came from a person
who has expertise in this field.
Countries like Russia, China and India have developed Anti Satellite missiles that can
knock out rivals' satellites in space.
It is paramount that the US remains one step ahead in the space domain, especially when
it comes to Indo - the pacific region and this is where U.S. Space Forces, Indo-Pacific
come into the picture.