Troops in orbit? US dominance demands Space Force 'guardians,' ex-military brass claim

A group of former military officers says human Space Force missions could tilt the scales against America's enemies.

In a new report, the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies advocated the integration of man in space as the next step required to gain a tactical edge.

'Astronaut guardians may be necessary to execute and secure missions that cannot be accomplished through remote operations.'

The Mitchell Institute calls itself an "independent, nonpartisan research organization" and consists of a plethora of retired military personnel. This includes a former Air Force brigadier general, general, and lieutenant general. Notably, the staff boasts retired Space Force Colonel Charles Galbreath, who serves as a director and senior resident fellow for space studies.

It was Galbreath who concluded the recent study that determined dynamic space operations with the Space Force will need to encompass orbital and terrestrial links, and establish space infrastructure in the future.

One of the most important areas of focus, Galbreath wrote, should be the need for crewed missions.

Labeling humans as the "most flexible system ever launched into space," the former Space Force colonel said that "guardians in space" may be essential for future operations.

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"Today, the Space Force does not have guardians operating in the space domain for military missions. However, as humanity’s interests in space go further from the Earth, astronaut guardians may be necessary to execute and secure missions that cannot be accomplished through remote operations," Galbreath wrote.

The adaptability of human decision-making could present "fundamental challenges" to enemy decision-making procedures, he argued. For example, adding humans into a spacecraft would "raise the threshold" of acceptable hostile actions from foreign governments.

"Harming an uncrewed satellite is one thing; harming a space station with military crew on it is a completely different risk calculus for an adversary to consider," Galbreath hypothesized.

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As reported by Defense One, John Shaw, the former deputy leader of U.S. Space Command, recently appeared on a virtual event for the Mitchell Institute, where he expressed skepticism about putting troops in space in the immediate future.

"It's probably when we're projecting power across great distances, and it's probably so they can be closer to an intense command and control capability where you need humans in the decision-making," Shaw said.

Describing the placement of guardians in space as "inevitable," Galbreath said during the same event that it's going to take about 10 years to get the idea into practice due to the time it takes to develop the pipeline and training that would enable such a program.

"We can't wake up one day and say, ‘My gosh, we need guardians in space.' ... We needed to make that decision 10 years ago," Galbreath claimed.

According to the Mitchell report, there also exists a need for the Space Force to use alternate forms of propulsion, conduct in-space assembly, and create a supply chain for parts and infrastructure in order to fix satellites, for example.

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