Oracle: extending space situational awareness

[DocM]

A few years ago the US Space Force proposed extending space situational awareness beyond geostationary orbit. The main reason; China has published their long-range goals, which included the domination of activities in cislunar (and even Mars) space like they have tried to do with the South China Sea (link...). This is being taken seriously because they are actively developing a Starship-like vehicle, Long March-9, and the Chinese military runs their space program.

At first the US effort was given a whimsical name, Cislunar Highway Patrol (CHPs), but now things are getting more serious. Both DoD and NASA are working on nuclear propulsion for both robotic and human missions in cislunar space, and now the satellites to monitor that domain are on the way; Oracle..

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AFRL: Oracle Satellite - Cislunar Space

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Oracle spacecraft will collect observations of resident space objects in the region near the Moon and potentially beyond. These observations will be cataloged and used to maintain awareness in the regime.

Oracle will deliver advanced space capabilities in support of the U.S. Space Force’s space situational awareness mission.