Everything you need to know about the US Space Force 1:01
(CNN) -
I have been in all branches of the United States military on multiple occasions; in war zones and on the base, but nothing is like a look inside the newly created US Space Force. The "Guardians" of the Space Force, as they are known, carry out their work hundreds, even thousands of kilometers, from the front lines of the conflicts they fight.
And yet each of the Guardians we spoke to describes their fight as as hostile as any other front today.
"Space is a war fighting arena," said Colonel Matthew Holston, Delta 8 Space Commander. "It's the reason we created the United States Space Force as a separate service. So every day we train our operators to deter conflict, but if deterrence fails, to compete and win in the space. "
My team and I visited mission control at Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, where the Guardians fly the nation's missile alert satellites.
Using infrared sensors, these satellites, which orbit 35,000 kilometers above Earth, monitor the planet 24 hours a day for missile launches and nuclear detonations.
Always vigilant
"We never stop, always vigilant and we have never failed," Lieutenant Colonel Michael Mariner, commander of the 2nd Space Alert Squadron, told me.
"And there's a reason for that. And it's because this mission is that important to our nation. We provide quality decision-making data to tactical war fighters on the ground to save their lives."
In January 2020, these satellites went into action, detecting multiple missiles from Iran that were aimed at the Al-Asad air base in Iraq, where US troops were located.
Before those missiles rained down, within minutes, the Space Force had issued a lifesaving advisory to US units on the ground.
"It's lightning speed," Space Force Specialist 4 Sally Stephens, who was on duty that day, told me.
"It's not very often that they remind us where our data goes, and that night was a shocking reality."
China successfully launches Long March 7-A Y2 rocket and launches experimental satellite into orbit
Missile warning satellites are just a fraction of the hundreds of US commercial and government satellites watched and defended by Space Force guardians today.
advertising
The problem is that space, once largely considered friendly territory, has become a potential war zone.
China launches "hijacker" satellites, with grasping arms capable of yanking satellites out of orbit.
Russia deploys "kamikaze" satellites capable of ramming and destroying US space assets.
And Russia has a new weapon that the Space Force nicknames "Nesting Doll" (for the operation of a "matryoshka").
General John "Jay" Raymond, chief of space operations for the US Space Force, joined us in one of the most alarming episodes in a growing space arms race.
What would the privatization of the space consist of?
"Back in 2017, Russia launched a satellite, and you can imagine something like that doll," he said.
"Another satellite opened and came out. And a projectile opened and came out. That projectile is designed to take out satellites of the United States. So, in 2019, they did the same, but this time they put it next to one of our satellites. He opened it, the second doll came out and we started talking about it. "
"Talking about it" meant, in effect, warning Russia.
As General Raymond told me, "We describe safe and professional behavior; it's important. Today, there are no rules in space. It's the Wild West."
A potential front
Russia and China also have directed energy weapons, which can damage or disable US satellites from a distance.
The era of lasers in space has arrived.
The Space Force is now an independent branch of the United States military because of this alarming new reality: space, once a relatively peaceful territory, is now considered a potential front in any modern warfare.
The United States has far more satellites than any other nation - about 2,500, compared to 431 for China and 168 for Russia, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
And a whole host of military technologies depend on them: satellites help warships and aircraft navigate and communicate ... they help smart bombs and guided missiles reach their targets ... they help fighters to monitor threats on land, sea and air.
Why is the US concerned about these Russian satellites?
2:04
"There is nothing that we do as a joint force, be it humanitarian assistance, disaster relief or combat, that is not possible thanks to space," Raymond said.
More than many Americans believe, civil technologies are equally dependent on space.
The nation's constellation of GPS satellites, flown by the 2nd Space Operations Squadron at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, is the backbone of multiple critical infrastructures.
"The standard American people will probably use the space 20 to 30 times between the time they wake up and the time they eat breakfast," said Colonel Miguel Cruz, Delta 4 Space Commander.
How exactly?
explained Holston, commander of Space Delta 8.
"If you look at everyday life, financial sectors depend on positioning and timing information for accurate banking operations and transactions, financial markets synchronize all those operations, our transportation sector for positioning and timing, air, land, sea and rail all depend on the global positioning system to run our critical infrastructure, "he explained.
Raymond described the importance of space to American life by saying that "America is a space nation. We have long understood that space is the foundation of all our instruments and of national power."
That reliance on space is one reason the Space Force emerged as its own separate branch of the military in December 2019. That step, in practical terms, makes "a significant difference," Raymond said.
"The target is on your back"
"It allowed us to attract more talent, develop that talent in a way that we haven't been able to in the past," explained Raymond.
"It has helped us to reinforce our requirements. It makes me a member of the Joint Headquarters. It allows me to integrate the space in the joint constructions to fight against the war. It also puts me on a par with the international leaders I deal with, which it allows us to strengthen our partnerships. "
The job of defending the nearly three dozen GPS satellites falls to a remarkably small team: ten Guardians on duty at any one time, outnumbered nearly three to one by the $ 500 million satellites they pilot.
The Schriever Space Force Base controls multiple constellations of American satellites, each constellation with dozens of satellites, each of which provides capabilities such as GPS, secure military communications and, increasingly, situational awareness in the space, that is, the surveillance of adversaries and weapons that target America's space assets.
The danger for the United States is that greater dependence on space equates to greater vulnerability.
"Our biggest challenge is staying on top, right?" Said Mariner, commander of the 2nd Space Alert Squadron.
"When you're on, when you're on top, the target is on your back, everyone is shooting at you. So they develop better technology."
The new satellites are designed with greater ease of maneuvering, shielding to block directed energy weapons, and resistance so that the loss of one or more does not render the system useless.
Space Force says Russian satellites are tracking US satellite
The commanders of the Space Force celebrate the entry of the private sector into space, as it creates more options, cheaper, to get into orbit.
In June of this year, the latest GPS satellite was launched on a SpaceX rocket.
"I would bet on the American industry any day," Raymond said.
"It is a great advantage that we have."
As for US weaponry, the Space Force wants to prevent a space arms race.
"We would prefer the domain to remain conflict-free," Raymond said.
"But as in any other domain, air, land, sea and now space, we will be prepared to protect and defend."
Adversaries have already tried using space weapons to temporarily disable US satellites, using lasers and directed energy weapons to blind or "dazzle" them.
The space war is not science fiction, but a battle that already happens.
Space Force