Representatives from the secretary of defense's office, unified combatant commands and service space components discussed the soon-to-be-released national security space strategy and how this strategy supports improved planning and delivery of space capabilities.

The symposium, Mr. Teets said, is a forum for discussion on where the strategy is and where it should be going.

The secretary explained the Air Force's strategy for moving forward.

"We have been working for some time to build a coherent overall national security space strategy," he said.

The four-part strategy's cornerstone is to ensure freedom of action in space, which will be released soon, Mr. Teets said. This can be done by pursuing operationally responsive spacelift capabilities, revolutionary propulsion technologies, integrated space situational awareness and a variety of counterspace options. These will allow the Air Force to continue delivering the asymmetric advantages that intelligence experts and warfighters rely on, he said.

The next part of the strategy is to improve the planning and delivery of space capabilities.

"Instead of trying to combine already-designed spacecraft fleets, we will plan, design and field new capabilities by specifying that they function as integrated architectures," Mr. Teets said. "For instance, we will make sure that our next generation systems ... will link together to build and communicate as clear a picture as we can, to as many users as possible, in the least possible time."

However, the secretary said he expects deep cuts by House and Senate appropriators in fiscal 2005 requests made last month. The space-based radar request of $352 million may drop to $75 million, and the transformational satellite communications request of $775 million may drop to $525 million.

Regardless of possible budget reductions, Air Force officials will press on and use the money wisely, Mr. Teets said.

"We must pursue the third part of the strategy: produce innovative solutions," Mr. Teets said. "Two factors often contribute to successful innovations: an important challenge, and the right talent and resources.

"Our challenge today is to exploit the space medium in new and better ways to provide decision makers and warfighters with everything they need to guarantee the safety and security of the U.S. and its allies," he said.

Mr. Teets said the Air Force must have talented people. The Air Force will continue to invest in people throughout the national security space community to develop them and also to attract young people into space-related science and engineering fields.

The last part of this strategy is to build space professionals.

"This last part is aimed at melding these separate groups into a national security space cadre in order to maximize our exploitation of the space medium," he said. "The professional space cadre will enjoy standardized education, training and space career opportunities that will enable them to better support joint and coalition warfighting, intelligence collection and national decision making."

Once the national security space plan is published, Air Force officials will lay out detailed actions and specific objectives, and provide a blueprint for success.

"Space systems and capabilities are vital to our national security," Mr. Teets said. "Our national security space strategy will guide our actions in the coming years to ensure that we sustain space power as a decisive asymmetric advantage for America, its allies and its coalition partners."

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