Space Operations Cop 'It's Only Logical'

摘要

Imagine yourself in Iraq or Afghanistan conducting Missile Warning, Space-based Battlefield Characterization, Space Situational Awareness, Blue Force Tracking (Air, Land and Sea: surface and sub-surface), and Enemy force tracking. Imagine doing all this as well as monitoring the status of satellite collection. While doing this job you don't need five different computer systems and programs the rest of the Army is using; you only need one. This is not science fiction it is science fact. Let me introduce you to, the Space Operations Common operational picture, or (SPOC). The 8th Army Space Support Element, with the approval of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command's Future Warfare Center (FWC) and Battle Lab in Colorado Springs, Colo., and with the support of the FWC Models and Simulations Division in Huntsville, Ala., developed the SPOC. 8th Army uses SPOC as a replacement for multiple systems. SPOC takes multiple data feeds that are normally processed by different systems and merges it into one display that can be filtered. SPOC uses a classified Google Earth EC as its base platform for displaying all the incoming data. Currently the Overhead Persistent Infrared data is fed into the system through the Joint Embedded Messaging System; the other feeds are Keyhole Markup Language-based. Joint Embedded Messaging System was developed by L3 Communications for USASMDC and will be further explained later in this article. We are attempting to move away from Keyhole Markup Languages as a primary means of data feeds and toward direct feeds with the use of Joint Embedded Messaging System. For now the Keyhole Markup Languages primarily come from, but are not limited to, three sites: Counter-IED Operations Integration Center (User Defined Operational Picture), National Reconnaissance Office, and another classified sensor Web site.