Persistent Space Situational Awareness

In the decades since the space program first began, the United States has become more and more dependent on space across a broad spectrum of military, commercial, and civil applications. That dependence brings with it an inherent vulnerability, and recent evidence of the growing threat, combined with acknowledged gaps that exist in our ability to rapidly characterize and attribute attacks on our satellites results in a compelling need for a robust space situational awareness (SSA) capability. The Distributed Real-time Awareness Global Network in Space (DRAGNETS) is one solution that leverages the trend toward distributed, networked military capabilities that nanotechnology will enable within the next 20 years. The DRAGNETS approach uses distributed constellations of thousands of very small sugar cube-sized femtosats to maintain continual cognizance of the space environment. Current and future advances in nanotechnology will lead to substantial miniaturization of satellite functions and allow the Air Force to field flexible, adaptive, and responsive systems as part of an overall SSA architecture. In order to realize the DRAGNETS vision, the Air Force should plan phased investments leading to an operational assessment of a prototype DRAGNETS constellation at a technology readiness level of 7 by 2025. The end result will be a capability that, when integrated with existing ground and space-based SSA assets, provides Combatant Commanders and senior decision makers with the necessary awareness to preserve maximum flexibility in the use of US space capabilities.