Eyeing China, US to deploy satellites with advanced sensors for tracking targets by 2030s

Senior Space Force official describes Beijing and Moscow as ‘pacing challenges’ that can ‘target and destroy space systems’ in all orbits.

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A screengrab of General Michael Guetlein of the United States Space Force speaking in Virginia on Wednesday.

Published: 4:40am, 5 Sep 2024Updated: 5:55am, 5 Sep 2024

A senior US Space Force official said the Pentagon has set its sights on the early 2030s to deploy satellites bearing advanced sensors for tracking airborne and ground targets so that America can keep pace with security threats posed by China and Russia.

“I would say you’re looking at probably the early ‘30s for some of that capability to start coming online,” said General Michael Guetlein, vice-chief of space operations, at a Defence News conference in Virginia on Wednesday.

Guetlein shared his estimate when asked about the Space Force’s timeline for deploying new intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in space.

As adversaries had become “very good” at “denying oversight of their territory”, the US now needed to operate from increasingly higher altitudes to maintain battlefield visibility, he said.

Guetlein also stressed a need to focus on ground moving target indication (GMTI) and air moving target indication (AMTI), noting that the US had begun to invest in both.

Moving target indicators are radar sensors that can track objects in real time, such as Chinese warships entering the South China Sea or Russian tanks moving through Ukraine.