WASHINGTON - Members of Congress can watch tanks maneuver, tour warships and see combat aircraft fly. Space Force leaders, meanwhile, have been stuck explaining their battlefield with PowerPoint and a prayer. Their domain features satellites zipping along at thousands of miles an hour, but the maneuvers that actually decide an encounter unfold over days. It's like trying to describe a chess match by showing someone a photo of the pieces.
Satellites can be inspected during assembly, but a spacecraft on a factory floor reveals about as much about orbital warfare as a car on a showroom floor reveals about rush hour. That gap inspired the Space Force Association to build something flashier: the National Spacepower Center, an industry-backed education and simulation center. Its developers are crafting an unclassified digital environment that combines orbital tracking data, spacecraft engineering models, command-and-control software and immersive displays to show how satellites operate - and how a space confrontation could mess with a military campaign thousands of miles below.
The first integrated prototype, demonstrated July 21 at the Arlington, Virginia, offices of simulator software company Sedaro, tackled a concept known in space circles as "dogfighting." Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman and Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, his presumed successor, watched a simulated encounter where an adversary spacecraft crept up on a U.S. missile-warning and missile-tracking satellite.
Now, "space dogfighting" sounds like fighter jets twisting and turning in a wild aerial brawl. Orbital combat is more like a slow, tense ballet performed by celestial accountants. Spacecraft can't just swerve; they must obey orbital mechanics, plan engine burns with precision, and wait patiently as subtle speed changes nudge their relative positions. The prototype aimed to make that choreography visible. It showed an adversary satellite in a highly elliptical orbit maneuvering near a U.S. missile-tracking spacecraft supporting an operation in the South China Sea. In the scenario, the approaching spacecraft jammed the U.S. satellite, cutting off the missile-warning and tracking data flowing to forces on Earth. A second vignette introduced a friendly satellite that intercepted the adversary, allowing the mission to resume.
"It showed the dynamic environment," said Dillon Cox, a Sedaro executive and Space Force Association chapter leader overseeing the National Spacepower Center.
The demo also tackled a fundamental visualization problem: spacecraft move super fast, but strategic maneuvers take hours or days. A good visualization must compress time without mangling physics. Viewers need to see how a small engine burn alters a satellite's path and eventually brings it close enough to observe, jam, or threaten another spacecraft. Cox described the encounter as less a chase than a carefully timed performance. "It looks like this is happening really fast, but in reality, we are planning and going out and actually doing a ballet," he said. "All of this has to be executed at the perfect time. It needs to be in harmony."
That distinction is central to the Space Force's broader PR problem. Service leaders have noted that lawmakers can visit bases, ships, and training ranges, but they can't tour an orbital battlefield. Officials can describe a satellite's mission or show the hardware pre-launch, but neither gives an intuitive sense of how objects move relative to each other in space, how an adversary might interfere, or what losing a spacecraft means for forces on the ground, at sea, or in the air. The National Spacepower Center aims to be an immersive substitute - not another conference venue or think tank, but a place where officials can experience simulated military space scenarios alongside their terrestrial consequences.
For now, the center is an internal association project. It lacks a permanent home, a sustainable funding stream, or a disclosed sponsorship agreement with the Space Force. The effort is bankrolled by the Space Force Association and a group of companies called the National Spacepower Center industry consortium, according to Damon Feltman, the association's chief executive. Initial members: Redwire, COMSPOC, Sedaro, OpenC3, and TigerVision.
Each company brought a piece to the pilot. COMSPOC supplied commercial orbital tracking data and maneuver analysis. Sedaro provided the physics-based simulation platform and integrated the scenario, analytics, and visualizations. Redwire contributed spacecraft engineering models representing vehicle performance, subsystems, and operational constraints. OpenC3 provided command-and-control software for handling commands and telemetry. TigerVision delivered the curved 15-by-10-foot, 4K display that wowed the Space Force leaders.
The companies used internal research-and-development resources to assemble the prototype in under four months, Cox said. Saltzman suggested the first scenario focus on space dogfighting.
Feltman said the idea emerged from a conversation with Saltzman over a year ago about the difficulty of explaining space operations to Congress and the public. The consortium concluded that existing physics-based simulation engines and spacecraft models could be combined to solve the problem. "The point of the prototype was to showcase how all the pieces could come together, how industry can cooperate in an environment with unclassified but trusted open-source data," Feltman said.
Unclassified data is key. Classified systems offer more detail on threats and capabilities but limit who can see the results. The association wants a platform usable by lawmakers, congressional staff, allied representatives, military leaders, and the public - no clearances required. "There is a ton of stuff that you can do based off of unclassified open-source data that advances the narrative of spacepower and space security," Feltman said.
Instead of building a new simulation environment from scratch, the consortium linked existing tools for orbital analysis, spacecraft design, mission operations, and visualization. The SFA hopes the Space Force eventually adopts some version of the capability, potentially through a project contract or a specialized research activity. "The way we're doing it right now, it's Space Force Association plus a handful of industry partners donating their time and talent," Feltman said.
Space Force officials at the demonstration discussed applications in strategic education, mission analysis, experimentation, force development, and acquisition. A simulation could, for example, help officials see how a satellite design or operational concept performs under different threat conditions.
But the organizers are wary of looking like they're building a lobbying tool for bigger budgets or specific programs. Feltman insists the center is educational: to improve understanding of operational challenges, risks, and tradeoffs. "It's not always about getting more money," he said. "It's about spending the money that's already out there in the best way possible."
He argued that better visualizations could help officials make smarter decisions and make military vulnerabilities more vivid as the Space Force invests in satellites that can maneuver, survive attacks, and operate through interference.
For now, the prototype is more proof of concept than finished product. The association is hunting for more companies willing to contribute internal R&D funds, create new scenarios, and improve the models. "We certainly have room for more," Feltman said.