Air Force Space Command hopes to shield satellites from budget cuts

The head of US Air Force Space Command hopes to safeguard funding for satellite and cyber operations as the Pentagon continues to work with an unclear budget picture that is muddled by the threat of sequestration and stop-gap funding measures.

"All of our [satellite] constellations will have to be protected," General William Shelton told reporters during a 17 January 2013 breakfast meeting in Washington, DC.

"This is a foundational capability," he said. "It doesn't matter what size the United States military becomes, we count on space and cyber capabilities to underpin the force."

Gen Shelton added that reducing funding and operating one less GPS satellite or one less advanced VHF satellite would create holes in the constellation and thereby degrade navigation, targeting, and communications capabilities that are relied upon by all military services.

He also said the command must protect funding for the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) Mission System (JMS) that is responsible for situational awareness in space and command and control of space forces.