• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

1st Command and Control Squadron [1st CACS]

The 1st Command and Control Squadron, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, CO, tasks the worldwide Space Surveillance Network to get positional data for all man-made Earth-orbiting space objects. The squadron is a geographically separated unit of the 21st Space Wing, Peterson AFB, CO.

The squadron operationally commands, controls, and tasks the worldwide space surveillance network of more than 26 operational sensors for the purpose of identifying and cataloging all man-made objects in space. These space activities directly support the United States Space Command Space Control Center, national systems, and civil space missions.

The mission of the 1st CACS is to provide command and control to all 21st Space Wing space surveillance sites in the Space Surveillance Network. Information from 20 sites is forwarded to the unit for compilation and analysis. The unit receives more than 70,000 observations daily to maintain a database of more than 9,500 Earth-orbiting space objects. This information is made available to customers worldwide through an electronic bulletin board.

The 1st CACS is the focal point for organizations, such as NASA, who need vital, up-to-the-minute information on space debris. The 1st CACS plays a key role in each launch, flight and return of the space shuttle, ensuring accurate positional data is available on all objects in the shuttle's orbital path.

The unit also tracks objects moving out of a stable orbit that will eventually reenter the Earth's atmosphere. Examples of this are two-ton Chinese satellite, about the size of a car, and a satellite with a 12-mile tether that reentered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up. Information on reentering satellites is forwarded to U.S. Space Command 14 days before the object is projected to reenter the atmosphere.

The squadron is responsible for monitoring and tracking nearly 9,500 manmade objects in space, ranging in size from a baseball to the Mir Space Station. The furthest object the unit tracks is farther away from the Earth than the Moon, making nearly on revolution every two weeks. The closest objects can make a complete revolution around Earth in less than 90 minutes.

The 1st CACS:

• Tasks the Space Surveillance Network to detect, track and identify manmade objects in space;
• Maintains and distributes a continually updated catalog of space objects;
• Provides the catalog to customers worldwide, including foreign nations and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and
• Monitors and tracks orbits of space objects and notifies U.S. Space Command of any objects that reenter Earth's atmosphere.

In 1987, a Congressionally-mandated "Blue Ribbon Committee" was tasked to evaluate the overall efficiency and operation of the space surveillance portion of the Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment mission. Because of this study, Headquarters Air Force Space Command tasked the 1st Space Wing to develop and staff a full-time orbital analysis function composed of space systems specialists to look after the quality of the Earth satellite database.

Over the next few years, the 1st CACS became a focal point for space surveillance and is responsible for maintaining positional data on more than 97.3 percent of the manmade earth-orbiting objects in space. Beyond supporting U.S. Space Command, the squadron supports more than 300 military and 2,000 civilian customers.