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GENERAL 'BUILDS BRIDGES' FOR US SPACE COMMAND NORTH AMERICAN AEROSPACE DEFENSE COMMAND AND UNITED STATES SPACE COMMAND NEWS ADVISORY
Release No. 2-97 February 12, 1997

PETERSON AFB, COLORADO -- In building bridges to the future, U.S. Space Command must continue the dialogue on National Missile Defense, aggressively support NASA in pursuing reusable launch vehicle technologies, and be ready to implement civilian leaders' decisions regarding space control, reported Gen. Howell M. Estes III, commander in chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command, and commander of Air Force Space Command.

At the 2nd Annual Space Strategy and Architecture Symposium hosted by the National Security Industrial Association in Arlington, Va., Feb. 12, Gen. Estes joined other key space players to discuss "building bridges" to new relationships that will result in new architectures and new space capabilities within our nation and in cooperation with our allies.

Gen. Estes has three concerns regarding National Missile Defense. The first is developing a clear definition of the threat so senior leadership can make key decisions about timing and make-up of an NMD system. His second concern is that we cannot afford to be late with an NMD system, and and the third that the system must be effective when it is deployed.

While NMD is still in the construction stage as a bridge to the future, a connection has already been made in the reusable launch vehicle arena. Gen. Estes noted that NASA is leading the charge for a reusable launch vehicle centered on the Lockheed/Martin team's Venture Star, and U.S. Space Command is helping. U.S. Space Command is actively cooperating with NASA in their reusable launch vehicle efforts with an eye toward future use of the technology for a variety of space operations to include the possibility of a space plane, he explained.

Possibly even more important, however, is the bridge to our nation's future economic security that may need to be built through U.S. Space Command's space control and space force application missions. The general stressed that the nation will have to take threats to its investments and interests in space -- and our ability to deal with them -- far more seriously in the near future.

Currently, the United States has over 200 active commercial, civil, and military satellites on orbit worth in excess of $100 billion, delivering products Americans depend on everyday, Gen. Estes stated. He added that the national dependence on space-based systems equates to vulnerability, and noted, As history so clearly tells us, all vulnerabilities eventually entice enemies to attempt to exploit them. U.S. Space Command must be prepared to defend and protect our space-based systems and capabilities from these attempts.

As space benefits continue to improve our everyday lives, the general explained, we become more and more dependent on them. Quietly going unnoticed, space assets are invisibly, contributing to our everyday lives.

The ability to ensure space superiority will become a keystone for the future in ensuring the benefits of space continue to contribute to America's growth and prosperity, he said.