Lt. Gen. John Shaw, second in command of USSPACECOM, stated that “We have satellites that have projected lifetimes measured in years and fixed fuel tanks, so we just can’t do that. And that is constraining our ability to do a lot of things we want to do at US Space Command.”

US Space Command’s area of responsibility extends from the top of the atmosphere to the Moon and beyond. The Space Force, established as a new military branch in 2019, is responsible for equipping Space Command and other regional commands around the world with weapons, sensors, and personnel to respond to hostile threats.