The Air Force will launch five wideband DSCS replacement satellites in 2006. The Global Broadcast Service will also rely heavily on commercial capabilities, such as direct TV technology, to make vast amounts of intelligence and information available to the warfighter 24 hours a day. Communications Co. GBS will provide the space links needed to support the Navy's Information Technology for the 21st Century initiative. Another GBS satellite launch will take place in November 1998 over the Atlantic Ocean, followed by a launch in 1999 to cover the Indian Ocean. The three satellites will provide near-total Earth coverage.
Information assurance is as big a problem in space as it is on Earth.
And protecting what's in space is becoming a bigger problem as the number of commercial space assets used by the military grows, Estes said. The problem DOD faces in such an attack is that there are no clear rules of engagement in space for that kind of warfare. The military needs to put sensors on selected mission-critical space systems so that DOD can tell when those systems are under attack, Estes said. More worrisome than a calculated attack on America's satellite systems is the year 2000 problem, which could disable DOD satellites. All rights reserved.