DoD’s John Rood: Space Sensor Layer Could Help US Prepare for Missile Attacks

John Rood, defense undersecretary for policy, has said building a network of space-based sensors designed to detect and track missile threats is “not a provocative act” and would allow the U.S. to prepare for possible attacks, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

“If the U.S. pursues a space sensor layer, it watches, it detects what others are doing,” he said Tuesday at a Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance-organized forum on Capitol Hill.

“If we’re attacked, we can deal with it, that’s what we want,” he added.

Rood noted that the Defense Department has started to consider the potential security and technological implications of having space-based missile interceptors but is not yet ready to advance the concept.

“Those are bridges yet to be crossed,” he added.

Rood joined Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary of defense for research and engineering; and Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency; at the forum.