Iranian drone and missile attacks after the initial U.S.-Israel joint strikes reportedly damaged multiple radar sites. One U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command soldier, Army Staff Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, was killed in the March 1 attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The loss of life and key technology in the war highlight the military’s need to improve the way it protects key space assets, said Gen. Stephen Whiting, the head of U.S. Space Command.

“No doubt, one of the lessons learned out of operations in the Middle East is that if you have fixed infrastructure, it will be targetable, and if your opponents have over-the-horizon fires, whether ballistic missiles or one-way attack drones, you will be at risk,” Whiting told a group of reporters Wednesday at Red Stone Arsenal. “I'm proud of the defense work that we've done, but we have to continue to evolve that, because the threats are rapidly improving as well.”

While Iran was never a substantial threat to U.S. assets in space, they scored major hits from the ground. Whiting, during his last Space and Missile Defense Symposium speech as Space Command’s leader, stressed that adversaries are taking note of how they can harm military operations by targeting space and missile defense targets. That’s only going to grow in future conflicts, the four-star general warned.

“Let’s be blunt and specific. Iran is a medium-size military power—and they’re choosing to fire at space and missile defense targets. When bullets cost so much, you take great care with your aim,” Whiting said during his keynote. “You only shoot at your adversary’s most valuable targets. And right now, they are targeting the forces and capabilities represented in this room.”

Potential changes to U.S. basing patterns in the Middle East will take time and money and are likely to be heavily debated between Congress and the military, Elliot Abrams, an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote last month.

“The wait will be costly—the longer U.S. troops remain within range of Iranian missiles, the more the United States will pay in readiness, deterrence, and lives,” Abrams wrote.

Defense experts have called for hardening existing structures on bases in the interim. But some military leaders don’t support increased investment in that type of protection. 

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview last month: “I don’t want to spend a lot of money on hardening shelters.” He described it as economically inefficient and called for either simpler methods for protecting against drones or increased systems to destroy incoming rounds.

Whiting said the Iran war has shown how the nature of warfare is changing.

“It used to be that the enemy would aim their snipers and sharp shooters at a platoon leader or radio operator,” Whiting said. “Nowadays, our adversaries shoot at the space and missile defense units which are deployed inside their weapons engagement zone.”

America’s adversaries are targeting U.S. space assets and rapidly developing their own, Gen. Stephen Whiting told attendees at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium on Wednesday. China, for example, has direct-ascent ASAT missiles, ground-based lasers, jammers, and maneuverable, dual-use satellites, he said.

“These developments intend to degrade our current space superiority and would potentially give

China a maneuver and logistics advantage in space – something we would not accept on the land, at sea, or in the air,” Whiting said. 

In the four-star’s final Space and Missile Defense Symposium speech as the leader of the combatant command, Whiting told military and industry audience members that there are five major things on U.S. Space Command’s Integrated Priorities List for 2029 to 2033.

“This isn’t just a wishlist. It’s a clear demand signal to several audiences describing the warfighting capabilities we need to meet our mission,” he said.

1. Integrated space fires: Mirroring Army usage, Whiting has used this term throughout his tenure at Space Command to refer to the offensive and defensive capabilities needed to deter orbiting threats.“

We’re a combatant command and we fight to win wars,” he said. “To win, we need credible, acknowledged, kinetic and non-kinetic fires. They are a key component of how we establish space superiority and restore credible deterrence.”

2. Counter-pLEO tech: Whiting said new technology is needed to counter adversaries’ low-Earth-orbit satellite constellations. As of last month, China has launched 200 G60 and 168 SatNet communications satellites as it builds a pair of “mega constellations…to compete with Western proliferated LEO (pLEO) architectures,” according to a Space Force fact sheet. 

“I don't want any U.S. force to be put at risk because somebody else might have a proliferated low-Earth-orbit constellation that could find, fix, track, and target them,” Whiting told reporters after his keynote address.

3. Joint, integrated space command and control: Military leaders often stress the centrality of being able to oversee, organize, and order complex space operations. 

“We must enhance machine-to-machine connectivity to support decision-making and battle management of this global space fight on tactically relevant timelines,” Whiting said in his address.

4. Dedicated space domain awareness for space engagements: It’s not just for missile defense, Whiting said: space domain awareness needs to expand and evolve to a whole range of space operations, not just one segment of it.

“We must adopt a ‘target-quality track’ mindset to everything we do in space, just like the missile defense community has done for decades,” he said.

5. Sustained space maneuver: Developing satellites that can be refueled to extend their usefulness remains one of U.S. Space Command key priorities. In March, a Chinese commercial satellite used a flexible robotic arm to “to demonstrate on-orbit servicing, refueling, and debris removal,” according to the Space Force.

“Today, our satellites are limited by the fuel they launch with, which leads to a psychology of scarcity. Husbanding that fuel often overrides desired warfighting maneuvers,” Whiting said. “That must change. We must be able to actively avoid threats and maneuver to gain a position of advantage on our adversaries.”

Whiting has pitched some of these items at past symposiums; in 2024, he said his 2027 Integrated Priorities List was topped by space fires and resilient command and control.

“Our space assets need to shoot, move, and communicate just like the rest of the Joint Force,” Whiting said Wednesday. “In short, space needs to fight like the Joint Force, to empower the Joint Force’s ability to fight and undermine our adversaries’ ability to do so.”