Space Command Juggles Budget In Face Of North Korean Threat, Sequestration

http://defense.aol.com/2013/04/09/space-command-juggles-budget-in-face-of-north-korean-threat-spa/



Space Command Juggles Budget In Face Of North Korean Threat, Sequestration
By Colin Clark
Published: April 9, 2013

COLORADO SPRINGS, NATIONAL SPACE SYMPOSIUM: Spend $5 million to help track possible threats like North Korean missile launches by leaving an Alaskan radar site on at full power. Turn off East Coast radar receivers that provide data about satellites and space debris.

Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, has cut Space Fence radar coverage by one-third, making what he called a prudent risk decision to use a radar at Eglin Air Force Base "that can operate in Space Fence mode" to plug any holes that might develop. That means he's shut down two of six radar receivers. That's how tough the balancing act is getting for Shelton as he fights his way through to saving $508 million from his command's budget. (Perhaps Congress wants to consider how prudent this risk is as it decides what to do about sequestration.)

Shelton said he decided against shutting down the Alaskan radar receiver because of the highly uncertain North Korean situation but now he's got to find that $5 million from somewhere else in his budget. In addition, he's cut his civilian contractor workforce by 50 percent.

And he sounded as if the decision has been made to cut spending for the upgrade of the Space Fence, the radar and data system that monitors Earth's orbit for satellites and the debris that has accumulated there over the years.