Space Force Explores Virtual Training Technologies for Ground-Based Guardians

The U.S. Space Force is looking at technologies for its guardians’ virtual and remote training, which needs to be more realistic and immersive than before, according to a SpaceNews report. 

Maj. Gen. Shawn Bratton, former Space Training and Readiness Command head, said the first challenge is explaining the space domain to trainees who have not left Earth.

To address the problem, STARCOM has organized industry events and issued requests for information on technologies enabling guardians’ space understanding, as well as schooling on maneuver tactics against adversaries, SpaceNews reported.

The command’s space training focus also includes ROTC programs and preparing the military academies’ incoming officers.

One initiative comes in the form of the immersive, three-week training program called Azimuth, a collaboration between the U.S. Air Force Academy and STARCOM. It incorporates augmented and mixed reality technologies to help operators better understand the congested and contested space environment.

One of the program’s tools, Kwyn Solar, replicates the space environment in the trainees’ goggles and carries data overlay from the military’s space object catalog.