The US Space Force plans to start patrolling the area around the Moon

The US Air Force Research Laboratory released a video that didn't get a lot of attention. The US military plans to extend its space awareness capabilities all the way to the Moon.

The United States space mission has been extended 22,000 miles above Earth. The range is being extended by 10 times and the operations area of the United States is being increased by 1000 times.

The US military is taking action after talking about extending its operational domain. It plans to launch a satellite with a powerful telescope. The satellite will be called the Cislunar Highway Patrol System according to the video. The research laboratory will issue a request for prototype proposals on March 21 and announce the contract award in July. Michael Lopez is from the Space Vehicles Directorate. We were rooting for him.

It can be difficult to keep track of the military organizations that are involved in this effort. The development of the satellite will be overseen by the Air Force lab. The US Space Command is responsible for military operations in outer space. This satellite is the beginning of an extension of operations by the US Space Command.

It is the first step for them to be able to know what is going on in cislunar space and then identify any potential threats to US activities.

Weeden thinks that the satellite will serve as a situational awareness tool, not as a response to threats.

Why is US Space Command interested in expanding its operations to include the Moon? There are several NASA-sponsored commercial missions, the space agency's Artemis program, and those of other nations cited in the video. It is going to get crowded. A recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Fly Me to the Moon, examines the dozens of missions planned to the Moon over the next decade.

The US military wants to ensure peaceful development of cislunar space and to provide a safe and secure environment for exploration and commercial development.

Weeden thinks there is more to this program. Military leaders are concerned about space objects that get placed into cislunar space by other governments and are then lost by the existing space situational awareness networks.

He said that such objects could swing around the Moon and possibly attack a US military satellite.

It is feasible from a physics perspective and would definitely exploit a gap in their current space domain awareness.