Air Force undersecretary: celebrate successes, secure the future Published April 14, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Kate Rust Air Force Space Command Public Affairs COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNEWS) -- A top Air Force official provided insight to the year's successes and upcoming challenges at the 23rd National Space Symposium here April 10. Dr. Ronald Sega, undersecretary of the Air Force, addressed a near-capacity crowd of military, civilian, space industry and academic leaders gathered for the second evening of the annual space forum. "As we look back, I think we've had a good year," said Dr. Sega. "We worked hard and made a lot of progress, so it's time to celebrate a bit." He lauded the integration across functional areas and Department of Defense services and recommended continuing that integration and collaboration with industry, academia and Congress. "We have worked hard on integrating across space," he said, "having space systems work better together." As the DOD executive agent for space, Dr. Sega develops, coordinates and integrates plans and programs for space systems and the acquisition of all DOD space major defense acquisition programs. He explained the "back-to-basics" approach, which calls for increasing current disciplines for acquisitions, including getting requirements and resources right, setting standards in systems engineering, paying attention to detail and having more government people actually "in-plant" working alongside industry partners. While the approach has worked well, he indicated a need to stay on top of technological advancement. "The rate of change in technology in the 21st century is something we can nearly guarantee," he said. "But we'll also have a lot of uncertainty." "It's not only the rate of change in the United States; clearly it's global," he said, and he cited the recent anti-satellite test by China. "As a result, we can no longer consider space a safe haven or sanctuary. And our efforts in space situational awareness must expand toward knowing what is going on, laying the foundation to better understand how to protect and maintain our capability in space." The former space operator highlighted several space successes achieved during the past year, including the Air Force's 50th consecutive successful operational launch March 8, the successful on-orbit check-out of the space-based infrared satellite (high elliptical orbit), the advances of Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite tests and development of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency system both due to launch in 2009. "Continuity of service is important," he said, investing not only in the program of record, but also what our future will hold for us in the next generation and the next and the next after that." Dr. Sega then directed the focus toward the "key enabler for our future," the workforce. "As technology increases globally, I think it is critically important as we go forward to have the capacity to be on the leading edge of that technology," he said. "Having more people with math, science and engineering background is important." The Department of the Air Force has committed a sizeable budget toward education programs, doubling it each year in an effort to secure that kind of talent for the future. Air Force Space Command's National Security Space Institute is an educational program for space professional development that is available not only to AFSPC, but to agencies outside the command, such as the National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the other services as well. Dr. Sega highlighted the Challenger Learning Center; an international, not-for-profit education organization that was founded by the families of the astronauts who perished in the Challenger Space Shuttle mission 51-L, according to their Web site at www.challenger.org. Positive learning experiences at the center raise students' expectations of success; foster a long-term interest in mathematics, science, and technology; and motivate them to pursue careers in these fields. He closed with words of thanks and encouragement, quoting Robert Goddard, pioneer of controlled, liquid-fueled rocketry. "It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow," he said. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) Click here to view the comments/letters page