WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., May 16, 2017 — The emergence of the night sky signals the beginning of a mission for a select group of airmen here.

The airmen, assigned to Detachment 1 of the 21st Space Wing, operate the just under 4-foot tall telescopes, which are kept busy detecting, tracking and cataloging tens of thousands of objects in orbit within their area of coverage.

Collecting Space Information

Throughout the night, members of the detachment collect positional and photometric data on satellites and space objects orbiting the earth and provide this information to the 18th Space Control Squadron and Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, said Air Force Maj. Erin Salinas, Detachment 1 commander.

With everyday life and the Air Force mission becoming more dependent on satellites, identifying and tracking space objects that could harm them has become a priority. These objects include everything from dead satellites and expended upper-stage rocket bodies to debris the size of a softball, as well as the 1,300 other active satellites with a range of roles, including GPS and communications.

“We have to know where things are in space in order to know what is going on around us,” Salinas said. “Our data helps maintain the advantages space is providing us, in not just our everyday life as civilians, but with our military capabilities, as well.”

Powerful Telescopes

Located around the globe, the Air Force has three Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep-Space Surveillance sites. Working together, these telescopes provide situational awareness of items in space, ranging from 3,000 to 22,000 miles away.

The GEODSS sites perform their mission using three powerful, 1.2-meter telescopes, including low light level, electro-optical cameras and high-speed computers. Because the sites use optical sensors, mission operations are limited to low light pollution skies, and the isolated high desert of central New Mexico provides an ideal location for the detachment’s operations.

“New Mexico has a history of having a great environment to view the stars,” Salinas said. “Since we are a photometric telescope, meaning that we are a telescope looking at light coming off of objects, we definitely want to be somewhere where there is not a lot of light pollution, which helps us accurately detect objects in space.”

Keeping Aware

Space is a battlefield just like other domains, according to Salinas. With more countries operating in space every day, military leaders require the most current information on detected objects in order to make decisions that shape actions. As defense, space operators often have the ability to fly the satellites away from threats.

“It’s important for us to understand what is going on in this domain because you can’t make a great decision unless you know what is happening,” Salinas said. “We can detect if something changes, and we can ensure we protect our own satellites and those of our allies. We can adequately defend our satellites if necessary because our leaders will make decisions on adversarial movements in space.”