PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. - For two years, Col. Raj Agrawal commanded the US military unit responsible for tracking nearly 50,000 human-made objects whipping through space. In this role, he was keeper of the orbital catalog and led teams tasked with discerning whether other countries' satellites, mainly China and Russia, are peaceful or present a military threat to US forces.
This job is becoming more important as the Space Force prepares for the possibility of orbital warfare, Stephen Clark writes for Ars Technica. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
28 July 2025 - As the former commander of the U.S. Space Force unit responsible for space domain awareness, Col. Raj Agrawal oversaw a vast and complex mission: tracking tens of thousands of objects in Earth’s orbit to protect U.S. national security interests and ensure operational stability in space. While military and allied government sensors remain a foundational part of this mission, commercial partnerships now play an increasingly central role in expanding the reach, speed, and fidelity of orbital monitoring.
Ars Technica's long-form interview with Col. Agrawal offers a glimpse behind the scenes of how the U.S. Space Force and Department of Defense utilize technology to monitor nearly 50,000 man-made objects orbiting Earth. Agrawal's team employs a layered system of sensors that includes ground-based and orbital platforms operated by U.S. military agencies, international allies, and commercial entities. The increasing integration of commercial sensor data has been crucial in helping Space Force analysts differentiate between benign activity and potential threats, enabling a faster response to emerging situations.
Commercial providers contribute data from a variety of sources - radar, optical, and infrared systems - that augment the military's ability to maintain continuous custody of high-interest objects. These systems, often more flexible and quicker to upgrade than legacy government platforms, offer alternative viewpoints, faster revisit rates, and cost-effective scalability.
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
