Agrawal reflects on a pivotal moment in space history. “I was part of the team tasked with counting the pieces,” he shared with Ars. “It took me years to grasp the significance of that day, but it was clear that the Chinese had fundamentally altered the space environment.”
The 2007 anti-satellite test significantly impacted Agrawal’s professional journey as well. Below is an excerpt from our conversation with him, with the remainder to be published tomorrow. The text has been edited for conciseness and clarity.
Ars: The role of the Space Force in monitoring space activities has evolved dramatically in recent years. Can you elaborate on these changes and the distinction between the former Space Situational Awareness and the current Space Domain Awareness?
Agrawal: We recently completed our fifth year as the Space Force. The establishment of a dedicated military branch for space has recalibrated our focus toward the operational needs of joint forces in combat space power. While we’ve been conducting space operations for nearly seven decades, many view this as merely a rebranding. However, that’s a misunderstanding. Space Situational Awareness (SSA) refers to the information generated from various sensors; it can be managed by numerous entities, including academia and commercial partners. In contrast, Space Domain Awareness (SDA) — a term popularized by Gen. [John “Jay”] Raymond prior to our establishment — represents our aim to create a domain centered on operational outcomes. At that time, we couldn’t explicitly frame it as a war-fighting domain due to policy constraints, but the shift allowed us to consider space as a realm to accomplish objectives, albeit with military intent.
Our previous discussions centered around the concepts of detection, characterization, attribution, and prediction. Gen. [Chance] Saltzman later introduced the idea of targeting to this framework, enhancing our understanding of how to conduct space-enabled attacks and achieve goals in and from space. With Mission Delta 2, he integrated the sustainment aspects of acquisition, software development, cyber defense, and intelligence concerning Space Domain Awareness into one command. Prior to this, the 18th Space Defense Squadron was viewed as the primary unit for SDA, while other units engaged in SSA. When I assumed command a few years ago, given the tangible threats to space superiority we face, I decided to decentralize our SDA efforts across several units. This redesign allows us the flexibility to respond rapidly should we encounter challenges related to cyber defense or other vulnerabilities.
