http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,121142,00.html

Pentagon Cuts 'Space Fence' Funding
InsideDefense.com NewsStand | John Liang | December 23, 2006

The Pentagon has cut funding for upgrades to a system that tracks
objects in space larger than 30 centimeters, leading to a re-evaluation
of the program's schedule.

The funding cuts to the so-called "Space Fence" program are included in
an internal Pentagon budget document known as program decision
memorandum IV, signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England
earlier this month, according to the Air Force.

While the memo itself is not intended for public release, details about
the cuts were included in a "future year funding" document posted on
the Hanscom Air Force Base's Space Fence business opportunities Web
site.

According to the Air Force's fiscal year 2007 research, development,
test and evaluation budget justification documents, the service had
requested $13.9 million for the Space Fence in FY-08, $75.7 million in
FY-09, $106.5 million for FY-10 and $80.3 million for FY-11.

A Space Fence "notional future year funding" document posted on the
Hanscom site in September showed slightly smaller amounts in some
years: $14 million for FY-08, $66 million for FY-09, $95 million for
FY-10, and $80 million for FY-11.

However, a document posted earlier this week on the site describes even
further cuts to the program. It now shows the Air Force allocating just
$4 million for FY-08, $13.8 million for FY-09, $65.5 million for FY-10
and $94.4 million for FY-11, "based on Program Decision Memorandum
(PDM) IV, signed 13 Dec 2006," the document states.

"As a result of the above funding, the program office is re-evaluating
the program schedule previously posted on [the Hanscom business
opportunities Web site] and will post a schedule update in the near
future," the document reads.

The Space Fence is a key element of the country's space tracking
system. Knowing the location and behavior of objects in space,
including large amounts of orbital debris such as rocket parts from
previous launches, helps the Air Force ensure those objects do not
collide with expensive and fragile spacecraft, as Inside the Air Force
reported in May 2003. Additionally, NASA keeps a close eye on space
debris to ensure orbiting matter does not strike and damage the Space
Shuttle or International Space Station. A small object, such as a bolt,
traveling at orbital speeds can cause massive damage, according to
experts.

The Space Fence program, formerly known as the "Air Force Space
Surveillance System S-Band Radar," is meant to provide a radar system
to replace the VHF "Fence" radar that currently performs detection of
orbiting space objects, according to the service.

"The Space Fence will have a modern, net-centric architecture that is
capable of detecting much smaller objects in low/medium Earth orbit
(LEO/MEO)," the Hanscom Web site reads. "The system will operate with
greater accuracy and timeliness to meet warfighter requirements for
Space Situational Awareness."

From FY-05 to FY-07, the Air Force will be conducting a so-called
"Concept Studies Phase, including a Risk Reduction contract effort,"
according to the Web site. The service says it expects to start the
follow-on system development, production and fielding phases in FY-08,
with a development contract award early that year and initial
operational capability in "the FY13-14 time frame."

The system of three radar transmitting and six receiving sites
stretches across the United States and tracks objects in space larger
than 30 centimeters, or about the size of a basketball. Originally
called the "Navy Fence" [NAVSPASUR] and run by that service, it was so
named because it traverses the southern continental United States. By
early 2003, the Air Force had taken over the program.