The National Space Defense Center at Schriever Air Force Base has moved beyond war games, with intelligence agency experts and Space Command airmen joining forces to protect American satellites in orbit.
The center, which last year was operating with borrowed troops, has begun operating 24 hours a day and boasts a staff of 230. Their mission is to ferret out threats to military and spy satellites and take actions to keep American interests safe in orbit.
“It’s that big transition point,” the center’s director, Col. Todd Brost, told The Gazette.
The ultra-secret center operates behind a prison-like double-fence inside Schriever’s secure area. While specifics of the unit haven’t been released, Brost said it includes contractors, representatives of American spy agencies along with troops from Air Force Space Command.
“This is not an Air Force unit,” Brost explained. “It’s not really even a Department of Defense unit.”
The center, which started as a concept in late 2015, arose out of increasing fear that America’s enemies would make satellites a wartime target.
[give_form id=”79809″] [contentcards url=”http://gazette.com/super-secretive-space-defense-center-near-colorado-springs-begins-24-hour-operations/article/1621233″ target=”_blank”]