Report from Headquarters

In December, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center opened an exhibition of space art: NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration. Scheduled to run through March 7, and organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in cooperation with the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, the…

The Space Foundation and Colorado Springs School District 11 (D-11) were honored Nov. 5 by the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation with an Excellence in Local Industry Chairman’s Award for their collaborative efforts to create the Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy in Colorado Springs. Created through a partnership between D-11 and the Space Foundation, the…

The need for better situational awareness, greater international cooperation, and more flexible systems and processes were common themes at the Strategic Space Symposium, held this Nov. 2-4 at the Qwest Center Omaha. The event, which attracted more than 1,800 attendees, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors, featured presentations from top military and industry leaders from around the globe.…

Featured speaker and Strategic Space Symposium co-host* Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, USAF, commander, United States Strategic Command, set the tone for the Symposium with his “wish list” for space: Improved space situational awareness through more data from better sensors, more tools to fuse the data, more displays to make decisions based upon the data, and better…

Following Gen. Chilton’s remarks, the Combatant Command Panel (Joint Operations: Space as a Force Multiplier) panel, moderated by Vice Adm. Carl Mauney, USN, deputy commander, United States Strategic Command (pictured at lectern), offered their perspectives to the Strategic Space Symposium attendees on the space-related challenges, solutions, and opportunities that affect their operations. Lt. Gen. Francis…

The Nov. 3 Strategic Space Symposium Keynote Luncheon sponsored by Northrop Grumman featured National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Director Gen. Bruce Carlson, USAF (Retired). Carlson said that the NRO is collaborating with U.S. research and development agencies, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Naval Research Laboratory, to…

Two panels of international space leaders, both moderated by Air Commodore Mark Roberts, Royal Air Force, United Kingdom, spoke at the Strategic Space Symposium of the need for collaboration and cooperation. “Space is multi-year, multi-agency, and multi-national,” said Maj. Gen. Stuart Beare, chief of force development, National Defence, Canada. “This means collaboration, cooperation, coordination, and, ultimately,…

Featured Strategic Space Symposium speaker Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, said that many levels of collaboration – interagency, commercial/government, and international – have improved his agency’s ability to support operational needs. He credited much of the advancement to arrangements with both commercial and international space providers that increase capacity…

Moderated by The Aerospace Corporation President and CEO Wanda Austin, Ph.D., the Strategic Space Symposium’s industry panel suggested ideas that they felt could improve their responsiveness to military operations needs. Lt. Gen. Brian Arnold, USAF (Retired), vice president, Space Strategy Space and Airborne Systems, Raytheon Company, cited speed as the most critical factor. David DiCarlo,…

Speaking at the Nov. 4 Strategic Space Symposium luncheon sponsored by Raytheon, both Lt. Gen. Larry D. James, USAF, commander, JFCC – Space, and Lt. Gen. Kevin T. Campbell, USA, commander, JFCC – Integrated Missile Defense, emphasized that the end objective for their commands is to ensure that warfighters on the ground have the information…