Air Marshal Paul Godfrey, assistant chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships, opened by citing the war in Ukraine as a prime example of space's role in conflict. The first attack in the war was a cyberstrike on a space asset, which disrupted thousands of modems across Europe and impaired Ukrainian communications. This highlighted the strong interconnection between space and cyber domains.

"I think there's a two-way street where the other services need to understand the criticality of space in everything that they are doing on a daily basis," said Godfrey.

Rear Admiral Heidi Berg, deputy commander of Fleet Cyber Command and Navy Space Command, reiterated how vital space is for naval operations. "Almost everything we do over the horizon, whether it's assured command and control, whether it's long-range fires, even our long-range logistics is dependent on space," she noted.

For the Navy, space has long been a critical component of warfare, but Berg emphasized the need for deeper integration of space, cyber, cryptology, and electronic warfare to meet evolving demands.

She also pointed out the Navy's unique position, given that 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans. "We play the away game," she explained, underlining the necessity for globally integrated space operations and international cooperation.

Both Godfrey and Berg highlighted the importance of working with allied nations through initiatives like the Combined Space Operations, which includes 10 countries collaborating to build a more capable space presence.

Godfrey stressed the importance of including allies and partners in strategic discussions, stating, "Almost all of those nations have started a relatively late military space journey." Berg echoed this, adding that partnerships with commercial space entities are also essential to understand how adversaries operate across multiple domains.

Counterspace capabilities were another focus of the panel, with Godfrey cautioning about the complexity of space warfare. "I think we have got to a point now where we're calling it a warfighting domain because of its criticality to any warfighting in any other domain as well," he said. Godfrey also advocated for responsible space operations, suggesting reversible tactics to avoid creating long-lasting orbital debris.

Berg spoke about the need for credible counterspace capabilities to deter major adversaries like China and Russia, comparing the current state of space warfare to cyber warfare a decade ago. The lessons learned from cyber should be applied to space, she suggested, as the joint force continues to adapt.

As the role of space in national security grows, the U.S. Space Force is evolving as a specialized warfighting service, committed to achieving space superiority and deterring future conflicts.

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Military Space News at SpaceWar.com