The use of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites to provide broad, resilient internet for the Ukrainian military to communicate and even target Russian forces represents the first time a megaconstellation has been used in a conflict and shows the effectiveness of the approach for other missions, the head of U.S. Space Command (Spacecom) says.

Ukraine has depended on Starlink for expansive battlefield communication, using the constellation of thousands of satellites every day on the front line. U.S. Space Command leader Gen. James Dickinson, speaking July 19 at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, says this has shown that such an architecture has proven to be frustrating for an adversary. Russia, for example, does not know how to target the constellation effectively—how many satellites would need to be taken offline, or which ones, to effectively degrade the capability.

“We are seeing for the first time what a megaconstellation means to the world, quite frankly,” he says. “You’re talking thousands of satellites that are in low Earth orbit and how that provides such resilient support to us.”

The Pentagon is looking to adopt the megaconstellation approach for its mission, such as the Space Development Agency’s approach for resilient missile warning and missile tracking.

Even with commercially provided support proving effective in military operations, that does not mean there is an inherent role for the military to provide protection. Dickinson says Spacecom does have a mission to protect and defend assets on orbit, but to do so requires direction from higher up in the U.S. government. 

In the meantime, Spacecom does share its space domain awareness with 133 companies, he says. This helps them understand what is happening on orbit, if they so choose. 

Spacecom is looking to get out of some of the control mission, as the U.S. Department of Commerce begins to stand up a Space Traffic Management system akin to what the Federal Aviation Administration does for aircraft. This is still in the early stages and will take years, Dickinson says.