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08:37 GMT, March 12, 2012 WASHINGTON | The $9.6 billion for space programs within President Barack Obamas fiscal year 2013 budget request will boost resilience for U.S. space capabilities but cut some modernization and other programs, Air Force Gen. William L. Shelton, commander of the Air Force Space Command, told a House panel Mar. 8.

Shelton testified on national security space activities before the House Armed Services Committees strategic forces subcommittee, along with Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, Gil I. Klinger, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and intelligence, and other experts.

The presidents budget request, Shelton said, invests in programs that enhance the resiliency and effectiveness of our space capabilities, namely missile warning, positioning, navigation and timing, satellite communications, space situational awareness and space launch.

A 22 percent drop in the 2013 request from 2012 represents mainly fact-of-life programmatic changes, the general said, along with some very difficult budget decisions leading to cuts to some modernization programs, and restructuring our approach to the Operationally Responsive Space Office, or ORS, and the Space Test Program.

Congress established the ORS in 2007 to shorten the space acquisition cycle while responding to urgent warfighter needs. The Space Test Program has been providing access to space for the DOD space research and development community since 1965.

The command, Shelton said, also seeks to speed the acquisition process for the Advanced Extremely High-Frequency Program, a joint service satellite communications system for high-priority military ground, sea and air assets, and the Space-Based Infrared System, a key part of North America's missile early warning and defense system.

The general said the Air Force Space Command is working closely with NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office to bring stability and predictability to our launch programs.

Schulte told the panel that three elements are critical to the U.S. strategy in space: resilience, promoting responsible behavior in space, and energizing the space industrial base.

Examples of resiliency, he said, include hosted payloads, commercial augmentation, international cooperation and backup capabilities in other domains.

In 2008, the European Union published a draft Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities and a revised draft in 2010.

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U.S. Official: 2013 Budget Targets Space Capability Resilience