Space Operations

Question 1

What is D3SOE?

Answer 1

Degraded, disrupted, or denied space operational environments.

Question 2

Who is the largest user of space capabilities?

Answer 2

U.S. Army

Question 3

Space systems are integral to supportinal all of what?

Answer 3

The Army Warfighting Functions

Question 4

What are the Army Warfighting Functions?

Answer 4

Mission Command, Movement and Maneuver, Intelligence, Sustainment, Fires, and Protection

Question 5

What are the three main space capabilities of space enabled equipment?

Answer 5

Global Positioning System (GPS), Satellite Communications (SATCOM), Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR),

Question 6

What is GPS used for?

Answer 6

provides military and civilian users with Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT)

Question 7

How many satellites are required for the GPS constellation?

Answer 7

24, but there were 31 in orbit as of 2017

Question 8

What altitude do GPS satellites operate at?

Answer 8

12,500 miles above Earth

Question 9

What are the characteristics of the GPS signal?

Answer 9

Very weak, equibalent to a 40 watt light bulb, and susceptible to enemy jamming and other electromagnetic interference.

Question 10

What is the primary ground receiver for the Army?

Answer 10

Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR)

Question 11

What is SATCOM used for?

Answer 11

provides key connectivity for all Warfighting Functions—providing both voice and data communications

Question 12

What altitude do SATCOM satellites operate at?

Answer 12

22,300 miles above Earth

Question 13

What field of view do SATCOM satellites have?

Answer 13

1/3 of the Earth’s surface.

Question 14

What are SATCOMs susceptible to?

Answer 14

uplink and downlink jamming

Question 15

What is uplink jamming?

Answer 15

Jamming of the receiver antenna on the satellite

Question 16

What is downlink jamming?

Answer 16

Jamming of the user equpment on the ground

Question 17

** How do SATCOMs operate?**

Answer 17

The signal is sent from the ground to the satellite, and than rebroadcast to the distant recipient.

Question 18

What is ISR used for?

Answer 18

helps us gather information about the enemy and operational environment

Question 19

Who is the key individual in your unit to access and expoit ISR satellte data?

Answer 19

S2

Question 20

What is one of the greatest benefits of satellites?

Answer 20

they can access the entire globe, thus ISR can be collected in areas that would otherwise be denied to aircraft, UAS, or other types of information collection

Question 21

What is one of the greatest benefits of commercial satellites?

Answer 21

commercial satellites provide is that the image is not classified. It can be easily shared within the organization, as well as with coalition partners

Question 22

What are the four most prevalent limitations of space capabilities

Answer 22

Physics, terrestrial weather, solar environment, enemy actions.

Question 23

How many satellites are there operating from 100 miles above the Earth to 22,300 miles into space?

Answer 23

1,400

Question 24

What percent of operational satellites provide satellite communications all over the world (i.e. voice, internet, TV, etc.)

Answer 24

60%

Question 25

How many pieces of debris remain in space?

Answer 25

21,000 pieces

Question 26

How many satellites can enable Infantry squads?

Answer 26

115

Question 27

What satellites are required to enable infantry squads?

Answer 27

1 or 2 out of 66 Iridium satellites (voice), 4 out of 31 GPS satelites (position fix), 1 imagery satellite (picture)

Question 28

What are the main concerns for Army tactical units com from the following enemy threats:

Answer 28

Anti Satellite Missile (ASAT), Ground station attack, SATCOM and GPS jamming, CYBER and laser

Question 29

Anti Satellite Missile (ASAT) threat

Answer 29

launch from the ground, or air, to space to destroy a satellite in orbit.

Question 30

Ground station attack threat

Answer 30

physical attack against terrestrial satellite control facility, which could impact satellite Command and Control (C2).

Question 31

SATCOM and GPS jamming threat

Answer 31

are the greatest threat to Army ground formations, as these threats directly impact the tactical Army’s ability to communicate beyond line-of-sight (BLOS), navigate, receive critical timing data, and employ precision munitions.

Question 32

CYBER and laser threat

Answer 32

threats can impact space operations, but response and countermeasures to these threats are executed at higher levels.

Question 33

Non-Enemy Factors to space systems are primarily related to the following natural or manmade interferences:

Answer 33

Unintentional electromagnetic interference (EMI), Space debris, Solar (space) weather, Terrestrial weather, Terrain and vegetation.

Question 34

Unintentional electromagnetic interference (EMI) threat

Answer 34

caused by friendly or neutral forces operating on the same frequency band, thus inadvertently disrupting operations.

Question 35

Space debris threat

Answer 35

can cause damage to satellites on orbit.

Question 36

Solar (space) weather threat

Answer 36

can potentially temporarily disrupt certain types of SATCOM and GPS

Question 37

Terrestrial weather

Answer 37

threats that could degrade U.S. satellite capabilities may include heavy rains for certain types of SATCOM, or high winds which would cause SATCOM dishes to be retracted/stored or destroyed.

Question 38

Terrain and vegetation

Answer 38

refer to natural or man-made terrain (such as buildings/complex terrain/urban canyons/etc.) as well as jungle canopy and it’s effects on GPS and/or SATCOM.