Aperture

摘要

The ongoing sequester is causing huge headaches for Air Force Space Command. Its commander, Gen. William L. Shelton, is doing all he can to find work-arounds, but with all "no fail" missions, he says there's little he can do to dial down expenses without fundamentally hurting the nation's military space enterprise. "I'm down to what I consider to be the bare minimum capability," Shelton said in an October interview. "You can't say, 'OK, I'll just live with one less SBIRS [Space Based Infrared System] satellite.' That opens up a hole in the constellation. You can't just say 'I'll live with one less Advanced EHF satellite'—another hole in the constellation. You can't say, 'I'll just do without some of my ground systems' because that opens up a hole in your ability to be global."