JP 3-14, Space Operations - Defense Technical Information Center

CHAPTER IFUNDAMENTALS OF MILITARY SPACE OPERATIONS“Space power is a critical enabler to National Security and it is where the US has acompetitive edge.”1. GeneralSECTION A. MILITARY SPACE CONTRIBUTIONSTO JOINT OPERATIONSa. This publication provides guidance for planning, executing, and assessing joint spaceoperations. It provides space doctrine fundamentals for all joint forces; describes themilitary operational principles associated with support from, through, and operating in space;explains Joint Staff, combatant command (CCMD), United States Strategic Command(USSTRATCOM), and USSTRATCOM functional and Service component relationships andresponsibilities; and establishes a framework for the employment of space forces and spacecapabilities.b. Space capabilities have proven to be significant force multipliers when integratedinto military operations. Space capabilities provide global communications; positioning,navigation, and timing (PNT); services; environmental monitoring; space-based intelligence,surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); and warning services to combatant commanders(CCDRs), Services, and agencies. To facilitate effective integration, joint force commanders(JFCs) and their staffs should have a common and clear understanding of how spaceforces contribute to joint operations and how military space operations should be integratedwith other military operations to achieve US national security objectives. To achieveoptimal military utility from space, a basic understanding of space tools and the ability tocoordinate activities between involved agencies and organizations and, when appropriate,integrate all necessary space capabilities with all other available capabilities (military,national, civil, commercial, and foreign) provides greater efficiencies and unified action.JFCs should establish a means to reasonably include appropriate outside agencies andorganizations in operational planning, execution, and assessment activities.c. US military use of space capabilities has changed significantly since militarysatellites were first placed in orbit. Continuous improvements in space technology have ledto the development of more advanced space systems, as well as a host of commerciallyavailable capabilities. This has changed how commanders view space capabilities.Adversaries have also purchased and developed their own space capabilities. This has led toa situation where space is a congested, contested, and competitive environment.(1) VulnerabilityGeneral James E. CartwrightVice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of StaffApril 2011I-1