Time for Missile Interceptors in Space?

Posted: July 2nd, 2017

By Michaela Dodge

Michaela Dodge specializes in missile defense, nuclear weapons modernization and arms control as policy analyst for defense and strategic policy in The Heritage Foundation's Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. She is a former National Security Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a former Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute in addition to being a former Center for Strategic and International Studies PONI Nuclear Scholars Initiative scholar. Dodge holds a master of science degree in defense and strategic studies from Missouri State University, where she was awarded the Ulrike Schumacher Memorial Scholarship for two years. She received a bachelor's degree in international relations and defense and strategic studies from Masaryk University, Czech Republic.

An effective space-based sensor network is a critical component of the U.S. ballistic missile defense system. The better the data the missile defense system has, the more likely it is to successfully intercept incoming missiles. Data is the backbone of the ballistic missile defense architecture, and that is why investments in the sensor network are so critical.

The Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Department’s agency responsible for research, development, and acquisition of U.S. missile defense systems, relies primarily on the Space Tracking and Surveillance System for space-based sensors, and is currently developing the Space-based Kill Assessment network. The surveillance system provides “birth-to-death” tracking of ballistic missiles, including detecting both targets in early stages of a ballistic missile flight and midcourse reentry vehicles. The network is designed to provide a more accurate picture of whether a successful intercept actually occurred.

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