Gen. Chilton: Greater Cooperation In Space Will Boost All Nations

Via Satellite: Do you expect adversaries to use more space-based capabilities and what will it take to counter this?

Chilton: Space is such an expensive domain to get into and operate that we don’t necessarily worry about other countries who get into this. However, we worry more about technologies that are able to interrupt your efforts in space. That could be through a cyber attack on a space network that transports information, if you will, or the jamming of the link. We saw Saddam Hussein try to jam the GPS signal and throw the munitions off course that were used in that conflict. Iraq didn’t have a space-based capability but still tried to interrupt the technology. It is a realistic expectation in any future operation that someone will try to take the advantage that the U.S. or any country has in terms of utilizing space.

Via Satellite: How important is education for the future of space capabilities?

Chilton: I think education is incredibly important. Our military space programs are powered by our people. If you look at the sophistication of the satellites and how they have gotten more sophisticated over the years, they require more hands-on operation. And as they have gotten more powerful, they can do more things, and the skill sets needed to operate them need more savvy engineers and operators in the future. The U.S. Air Force has said we need to make sure the people we bring in the business are cutting edge, and we need to keep them on the cutting edge. We need to continue their education opportunities and nurture their careers. We know there are attractions in the commercial arena as well.

Via Satellite: How do you address the issue of bringing young people into the space industry?

Chilton: You have to inspire and educate our youth at a younger age than we are doing today; even younger than when I was a kid. The first engineering course I did was in the second semester of my freshmen year in college. I studied math all through high school without knowing how good it was. There was no application to the math I studied at high school. It was all about solving problems. A lot of my classmates, once they had done that, didn’t want anything to do with math, as it seemed pointless. I think there are great opportunities to teach engineering at the high school level, even just at an introductory level. You just want to get the kids interested at that level.
The first engineering course I took was a broad entry-level race through aeronautical, astronomical, electromechanical civil engineering all in one semester. It was just enough to whet your appetite and use the math skills I had been taught through school and on a piece of paper design something that people could build and work.
That was a major moment in my life and it really inspired me to go into engineering. I think that is one way to do it.
John Young, an astronaut, said our biggest enemy is ignorance. How do you overcome ignorance? You do that through education and make young people aware of the opportunities and exciting futures in the space business. This is exciting stuff.