Near space systems — those that operate at altitudes of about 20,000 kilometers — have emerged over the course of the past year as a hot item of interest for U.S. Air Force space officials, starting with the service's top man in uniform. Gen. John Jumper, who is scheduled to retire from the service Sept. 2 , is a big proponent of using near space systems to meet some of the U.S. military's communications and intelligence needs on the battlefield at a far lower cost than most of the satellites built today. Near space systems generally are envisioned as lighter-than-air vehicles that operate at around 20,000 kilometers where they are able to dwell over targets for longer periods of time than the aerial reconnaissance assets used today while remaining less vulnerable to ene- my fire. A few near space systems in Iraq could handle a communications or intelligence role that today might require a low Earth orbiting satellite constellation, Jumper said. Another item on Jumper's mind as he prepares to leave the service that he joined in 1966 is the recent separation of the position of undersecretary of the Air Force and the director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Having a single official handle responsibility for military and intelligence satellites has contributed to the success of operations in Iraq by boosting the quantity of classified data to U.S. forces, he said. Jumper talked about these issues during a recent interview in his Pentagon office with Space News staff writer Jeremy Singer.
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