The U.S. Is Gearing Up For Space War

Source: Digital Global

DigitalGlobe's WorldView-3 super-spectral 30-cm imagery allows for fast and precise mapping of various features anywhere in the world. (Pictured here: Sydney)

CNBC: How the US is gearing up as fear of a space war mounts

* Air Force creates a new position for a three-star general that will serve as a space czar advising the Air Force secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
* SpaceX wins second military contract to launch an Air Force GPS satellite.
* DARPA signs deal with Decartes Labs to gain insights on satellite imagery using machine learning.

Tapping Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch some of its satellites is only the beginning in a larger top-to-bottom rethink of the way the U.S. Air Force approaches its operations in space. Air Force officials want to move faster when addressing emerging threats and future missions in orbit, and it's increasingly looking to start-ups to address a deepening sense that America's dominance in space is eroding.

The goal: to protect our satellites and spacecraft from cyberwarfare and missile attack. This is critical, since space weapons could be used to compromise navigation, surveillance, communications and other functions in wartime or during a national emergency.

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WNU Editor: Controlling the high ground has always been the priority for competing armies .... and the high ground today is space.