Alarmed by the escalating vulnerability of the venerable Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation to adversary attacks, the Space Force has been quietly working to forge a future where US and allied troops possess alternative options for navigating the battlefield and targeting adversaries. This strategic initiative underscores a profound shift in the approach to space security and military navigation capabilities.
Project Hecate: An Unseen Shield for Tomorrow
Under the aegis of a study dubbed „Project Hecate,” the Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC) is intensely analyzing methods to create a multi-orbit network of space-based capabilities. The goal is to ensure US military forces have access to essential position, navigation, and timing (PNT) data in the post-2040 timeframe. Officials anticipate the conclusion of this study by autumn, and its findings are expected to significantly influence the Space Force’s future budget requests.
Architects of the Future: SWAC’s Role in Space
SWAC, officially activated in 2021, bears the critical mission of crafting „force designs”—detailed blueprints outlining the Space Force’s desired future structure over the next five to fifteen years. These documents serve as foundational guides for budgetary investments in new capabilities and equipment, steering technological and strategic development.
Beyond Jamming: A Vision for Navigation Warfare
Project Hecate was first briefly mentioned in January by Colonel Neil Barnas, head of Space Systems Command’s System Delta 831 Military Communications & Positioning, Navigation and Timing (MCPNT) Program Executive Office. Speaking at SSC’s annual „Space Industry Days” in Los Angeles, Colonel Barnas emphasized that „a key aspect” of the project will be examining how future navigation warfare (NAVWAR) and PNT satellite architectures can counter the „range of threats” circa 2040 and beyond.
„We are very experienced in thinking about GPS jamming from a terrestrial perspective, and I think we are going to continue to see those challenges expand into space,” he stated. „We need to be thinking about the types of architectures, the layered architectures. We need to be thinking about multi-orbit, multi-frequency, commercial, international. It’s a very broad scope within that study. And again, we’re partnered very closely with them [SWAC], so we can make sure that their plans are acquirable moving forward.”
The Ambitious Goal: Recommendations for the Objective Force
Beyond Colonel Barnas’ comments, little information about Project Hecate has been publicly available thus far, with SWAC’s work generally conducted behind closed doors. However, in response to inquiries about the endeavor, a Space Force spokesperson stated that the objective is to provide „Objective Force recommendations to the Chief of Space Operations regarding future resilient and robust satellite navigation (SATNAV) architectures, both for the U.S. and for our allies and partners.”
The Objective Force, as explained in September by Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman, will detail „the what, when and how many for space systems, support structures and manpower — all of the elements of a combat-credible force” desired by the service.
„Project Hecate is evaluating candidate architectures including different orbits, the role of commercial SATNAV [satellite navigation] concepts, advanced command and control options, and the evolution of user equipment,” the spokesperson added. „It is a holistic, analytics-based effort assessing several critical variables to provide candidate solutions that are not constrained by the current GPS architecture.”
Hecate, Guardian of Space Pathways
The name „Hecate” is not chosen by chance. In the ancient Greek pantheon, Hecate is a guardian who protects the entrances to households and cities, as well as travelers traversing dangerous places. Associated with the night, the Moon, witchcraft, doorways, and crossroads, the goddess symbolizes protection and guidance in the face of the unknown—a fitting metaphor for the project’s mission in the complex realm of navigation. The study, launched last April, is expected to present its results in September.
A New Destination: Low Earth Orbit
While the current GPS constellation of 31 active satellites is stationed in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at an approximate altitude of 20,200 kilometers (12,550 miles), the Space Force is shifting its sights for future PNT satellites. The service previously halted its effort to build a new Resilient-GPS (R-GPS) constellation of small satellites in MEO, due to other pressing budgetary priorities and skepticism in Congress.
Colonel Barnas warned that much of the analysis within the SWAC study is stamped as controlled unclassified information or at a higher classification level, which might make public sharing difficult. However, his superior, Erin Carper, interjected, noting that interested companies „will see it translated into requirements that will make it out to RFIs [requests for information] and other industry investments.”
Cost-Efficient Innovation: Space Data Networks (SDN)
Although the final outcome of Project Hecate may remain classified, hints about SWAC’s direction can be found in open sources. Previous SWAC work revealed that both Low Earth Orbit (LEO, under 2,000 kilometers in altitude) and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO, approximately 36,000 kilometers in altitude) can be beneficial for alternative PNT constellations. SWAC officials will present papers detailing these findings at the Joint Navigation Conference, scheduled for June 1-4 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Specifically, a paper co-authored by Daniel DeVargas of the SWAC Spectrum Warfare Program’s NAVWAR Division and Olukayode Kami Okusaga of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory will elucidate how the Space Force could rapidly transition to LEO satellites for space-based PNT.
An abstract of the paper, posted on the ION conference website, states that SWAC discovered, during the development of its 2024 „PNT Force Design,” that the Space Force could simply repurpose signals broadcast by existing „proliferated LEO” communications satellite networks. Consequently, the center has recommended creating what it calls the „SWAC Space Data Networks (SDN) reference architecture.”
„Communications signals at different frequencies can provide time references at varying degrees of precision (microseconds to nanoseconds),” the abstract reads. The SWAC’s SDN concept would leverage current satellites utilizing „communications signals at S-band, Ku-Band, and optical cross links,” thereby circumventing jamming targeting GPS’s L-band signals.
Furthermore, the SDN network design „utilizes networks and user equipment that have already been funded to provide communications to the Warfighter thereby reducing marginal costs,” the abstract adds. It can also save money by modifying already deployed „user equipment” rather than requiring new receivers, radios, antennas, etc.
