The Space Operations profession has been expanding, for the past 4 decades at nearly the same scale, proportionally, as space itself.
Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek1 captured the imagination and interest of several generations; many hoping to someday get a chance to work in some space related field. In 1975, a NASA study reported the proposed construction and operation of a US$200 Billion dollar, Earth-orbiting, commercial space station with 10,000 inhabitants who’s sole job would be to manufacture and operate solar-power satellites supplying Earth with energy -- generating enough revenue to pay for it’s construction and continuing operation in about 30 years2.
Seeing space portrayed as a routine work environment for a world of earth citizens seemed like far fetched science fiction for decades. In 1991, space was already generating US$11.5 Billion dollars in revenue; in 1996 that jumped to US$26.7 Billion; by 2001 it will have more than doubled to US$57.5 Billion3

Hoffman, William C., Jr.

English

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

The Space Congress® Proceedings 1999 (36th) Countdown to the Millennium Apr 27th, 2:00 PM Paper Session I-C - Space Operations Management Training: Educating the Future Space Workforce for 2000 and Beyond William C. Hoffman Jr. Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.erau.edu/space-congress-proceedings Scholarly Commons Citation Hoffman, William C. Jr., "Paper Session I-C - Space Operations Management Training: Educating the Future Space Workforce for 2000 and Beyond" (1999). The Space Congress® Proceedings. 20. https://commons.erau.edu/space-congress-proceedings/proceedings-1999-36th/april-27-1999/20 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Space Congress® Proceedings by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact commons@erau.edu.   Beyond 2000 - Future Military and CommercialPrograms Open Opportunities for the Space Workforce of theFutureãAuthor -- William C. Hoffman, Jr.The Space Operations profession has been expanding, for the past 4 decades at nearlythe same scale, proportionally, as space itself.Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek1 captured the imagination and interest of severalgenerations; many hoping to someday get a chance to work in some space related field.  In 1975,a NASA study reported the proposed construction and operation of a US$200 Billion dollar,Earth-orbiting, commercial space station with 10,000 inhabitants who's sole job would be tomanufacture and operate solar-power satellites supplying Earth with energy -- generatingenough revenue to pay for it's construction and continuing operation in about 30 years2.Seeing space portrayed as a routine work environment for a world of earth citizensseemed like far fetched science fiction for decades.   In 1991, space was already generatingUS$11.5 Billion dollars in revenue; in 1996 that jumped to US$26.7 Billion; by 2001 it will havemore than doubled to US$57.5 Billion3.Due to a frenzied demand and competitive fever to get services to the market, world-wide space industry revenue is anticipated to reach more than US$300 Billion dollars, a six foldjump, by the year 20054.   This is being driven by new start-ups injecting their initial constellationsand an estimated 1,500 plus launches scheduled between 1999 and 2005.                                                1 Star Trek is a trademark and copyright of Paramount Pictures (   http://startrek.com    )2 Source, Mark Alpert (issue editor), Making Money in Space, Scientific American, The Future of SpaceExploration, Quarterly, p93, Spring 1999, Vol. 10, Number 1. (   http://www.scientificamerican.com    )3 Source, John T. Correll (Editor in Chief), A Roadmap for Space, Air Force Magazine, p23, March 1999 (http://www.afa.org   )4 AFCEA Magazine, February 1999. (   http://www.afcea.org   )0501001502002503001991 1996 2001 2005US $ Billions2How will the military and the commercial space industry train sufficient employees for thisexpensive, complex, technical and risky operational environment that is out-of-this-world?The military has already begun to feel the personnel pinch.  HQ Air Force SpaceCommand5 has been investigating ways it can shift space operations from officer-engineer toenlisted-operator, and in the near future consolidate operations such that a few common crewswill be able, through increased automation tools, handle all DoD satellite vehicles (SVs).  Someenvision advanced SV technologies equipped with autonomous orbit maintenance andsurvivability capabilities; while other envision a dramatic shift from military systems to federallycontracted or privatized space operations.Training the employees that work in these new industries has until recently been nearlyexclusively a military pipeline; whereby unskilled citizens entered military service and receivedvery comprehensive classroom or on-the-job training; then as civil opportunities arose, theywould bale out for more lucrative pay and benefits.  This is still one channel for many to followas civil space operations are continuing to draw from the DoD pool of labor.  But space is nolonger just a military operations environment.Today, unlike that period between the 1950's and 1980's when the United States andRussia were the only players of significance in space, space has become big business.  Nowthere are some thirty countries involved in space operations, with several thousand satellites inorbit.  Sixteen space faring countries are currently participating in the International Space Station(ISS), under construction with a completion date some time in 20046, at an estimated cost ofnearly US$80 Billion.Space corporations offering services and products which are a direct spin-off of earliermilitary space operations, are now revenue streams for investors seeking higher rewards thanjust building and putting satellites in space for the military.  Large corporations7 such asLockheed Martin8, Boeing9, Hughes10, Motorola11 and conglomerates such as GlobalstarTelecom12, Iridium13, Teledesic14, DirecTV15 and DirecPC16, USSB17, and others such asAmerican Mobile Satellite18, ViaSat19, Orbcom20, and CD Radio21 are listed on the Stock Market22.                                                5 HQ Space Command (   http://www.spacecom.mil  )6 Tim Beardsley, Staff Writer, The International Space Station: A Work in Progress, Scientific American Presents,Spring 1999, Vol. 10, No. 1 (   http://www.scientificamercian.com    )7 Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Hughes, Motorola, Globalstar Telecom, Iridium, Teledesic, DirecTV and DirecPC,USSB, and others such as American Mobile Satellite, ViaSat, Orbcom, and CD Radio are all trademarks,salesmarks, or registered names of the respective owners.8 Lockheed Martin (   http://www.lmco.com    )9 Boeing (   http://www.boeing.com    )10 Hughes (   http://www.hughes.com    )11 Motorola (   http://www.mot.com    )12 Globalstar Telecom (   http://www.globalstar.com    )13 Iridium (   http://www.iridium.com    )14 Teledesic (   http://www.teledesic.com    )15 DirecTV (   http://www.directv.com    )16 DirecPC (   http://www.direcpc.com    )17 USSB (   http://www.ussb.com    )18 American Mobile Satellite (   http://www.ammobile.com    )19 ViaSat (   http://www.viasat.com    )20 Orbcom (   http://www.orbcomm.com    )21 CD Radio (   http://www.cdradio.com    )22 Charlie Vestner, Satellite Stocks, "The Sky's The Limit", Individual Investor Magazine, June 1998. (http://www.iionline.com    )3These companies routinely offer space based services providing bent-pipe and direct broadcastcapabilities for data, voice, and television communications to other corporations in associatedindustries as well as personal paging and cell phone services to individuals.Since these services and products are available on a global scale literally hundreds ofthousands of jobs are being created in this fifty year old -- new commercial space businessarena.   Because these are commercial ventures, employees are being sought that not only havespace experience but a strong business sense as well.On-the-Job-Training (OJT) - No Longer Sufficient:Although military and civil space operations will continue, through the 21st Century, tocompete for the technical individuals to operate and sustain the ground and space segments, awhole new generation of space-business savvy individuals is being sought.Developing the next generation of commercially competitive space employees will requiremore than just on-the-job-training.  These new employees must have business, operations andtechnical know-how.The next generations of space professionals is coming from a broad spectrum ofexperience and range of prior work environments and are somewhat invisibly being integratedinto our daily lives.  Don't believe it?  Look around today, we already have science fiction andscreen writers, movie producers, actors, aerospace contractors, direct broadcast television,CD-radio, paging, tele- and data-communications, GPS receiver manufacturers, surveyors, forestrangers, farmers, taxi-drivers, commercial and private pilots, NASA23 and Jet PropulsionLaboratory scientists, stock brokers, college professors, and tens of thousands of othersalready working in space professions for very good wages and living Gene Roddenberry'sfuture.Space technologies have become so pervasive most Americans don't realize theirtelevision show, newspaper, or telephone calls are transmitted via satellite, until one fails toprovide the service, as tens of millions of pager customers realized in 1998 when a PagingSatellite experienced an on-board transponder failure, and service was disrupted.Companies such as OnStar24 are using the Global Positioning System (GPS)25 spacesignal to provide radio navigation26 and other consumer services through their space spin-offtechnology.   Not only do they provide navigation capabilities, but can track a stolen car, providenear pin-point location services to auto-repair and emergency assistance personnel trying tohelp you on-the-road, and provide information over your cell phone about the nearest gasstation, restaurant, motel, ATM machines or hospital.College Degree Programs:                                                23 NASA (   http://www.nasa.gov   )24 OnStar Corporation (   http://www.onstar.com    )25 NavStar Global Positioning System (GPS) (   http://www.laafb.af.mil/smc/cz/homepage   )26 Steve Dye (  gpsyes@aol ), OnStar, Satellite Times, p74, April 1998 (   http://www.grove.net/~grove/hmpgst.html  )4Many individuals desiring to make career changes are seeking college and university27programs where they can learn the basic principles of: the space environment; orbitalmechanics; space craft design; bio-astronautics; as well as contract management; systemsintegration; decision support system; space law and policy; engineering and technicalmanagement; program management; international law, finance and marketing; data- and tele-communications; and, electronic commerce28.Not only do institutions of higher learning need to recognize this growing profession, butalso need to respond rapidly by designing and delivering specialized education programs29 andenvironments -- such as distance and adult learning.  With the rapid development in space spin-off technologies30 new studies such as telemedicine31, Earth resource management and mining,Earth imagery32, weather observation, with specialized, simulated training.  In the next 100years, manned missions back to the moon and on to Mars33 may become common-place and willrequire tens of thousands of well educated technical program managers, space operationsmanagers, contract administrators, systems integrators, decision support system technicians,launch and payload specialists, e-commerce managers34, and many other new positionsrequiring specialized training35 taught by practicing professionals from today's growing spaceindustries.21st Century Learning Environments:Due to the rapid development of new computer aids, it would not be unrealistic toforecast that within the next decade we'll see virtual learning environments become commonplace.  Imagine walking into an empty room, not too dissimilar to a holodeck36 aboard Voyager37,placing a lightweight pair of goggles on, and stepping into the operational environment of theInternational Space Station orbiting some 300 miles above the Earth.  Since space is still a veryrisky38 and expensive environment39, virtual training tools will allow Earth-bound adult learners tobe placed in space environments along side their space-based teammates for OJT.  These virtualclassrooms will allow the luxury of working (virtually) alongside the experienced individual theywill eventually replace once their tour of space duty is scheduled.                                                27 Webster University offers a Master of Science in Space Operations - with two tracks leading to Engineering andProgram Management specialties. (   http://www.websteruniv.edu   and   http://www.home.att.net/~SpaceWeb   )28 Robert K. Ackerman, Digital Handshake Characteristics - Defense Electronic Commerce, Signal Magazine, p. 17,March 1999 (  http://www.afcea.org   )29 Webster University (   http://www.websteruniv.edu   )30    http://www.nasa.gov  31 The Association of Telemedicine Service Providers (  http://www.atsp.org   )32 Microsoft Terraserver in cooperation with Russian Space (  http://www.terraserver.com   )  Terraserver is a trademarkof Microsoft Corporation (   http://www.microsoft.com    )33 Mars Society (   http://www.marssociety.org   )34 Webster University is developing a new e-commerce degree program focusing on global marketing andexploitation of advanced technologies. (   http://www.websteruniv.edu   )35 Webster University, Space Operations Management, Master of Science degree program.(  http://www.websteruniv.edu  ) and (   http://home.att.net/~SpaceWeb   )36 Holodeck is a trademark of Paramount Pictures. (   http://www.startrek.com    )37 Voyager is a trademark of Paramount Pictures. (   http://www.startrek.com    )38 Bryan Burrough, Dragonfly - NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir, Harper Collins Publishers, 1998 (http://www.harperaduio.com    )39 Making Money in Space, Scientific American, The Future of Space Exploration, Quarterly, p93, Spring 1999,Vol. 10, Number 1. (  http://www.scientificamerican.com    )5Many of the defense department branches are conducting their own virtual realityprototype projects such as the Navy Research Lab40 (NRL) and the Air Force's AdvancedResearch Projects Lab41 (ARPA).  Their goals are multi-facetted - to reduce training costs,improve technology transfer and knowledge retention, gain strategic superiority over any enemyof the United States and maintain Peace.  Humans are visual creatures and as such, prior studiesusing multi-media training have clearly shown that training time can be reduced by as much as20-50 percent and knowledge retention increased from 15-80 percent.  Training simulators havebeen used for decades to train ship captains, train drivers, airline and military pilots, theastronauts, and employees on the assembly lines.This will not be an alien experience since most of the employees working in these newspace operation environments will be of a generation42 who grew up with large screen, directbroadcast TV, Sony Playstations43, interactive learning, virtual reality games44, and the Internet.Having this side-by-side training will ensure knowledge gained on-orbit and operationalexperiences are transferred to the new space technician prior to their ever having been in thespace environment, unlike what was experienced by American Astronauts aboard Mir45 when itexperienced several near destructive crises46.Yesterday's Science Fiction is Tomorrow's Classified Ad:With space enterprises such as Iridium recently going operational with its global cellphone and paging services, and Teledesic, flush with fresh funding, and ready to launch andoperate a constellation of 288 data-communication satellites to provide global, wireless, andinternet connectivity -- the future of commercial space operations is growing faster than anyaverage American citizen watching Star Trek -- Voyager47 beamed down to their living roomfrom Geostationary orbit can realize.This is no longer science fiction, it is today's global, competitive, business environment,the stock market as well as a growing, global, employment opportunity for many willing to learnso they can earn a better than average wage beyond 2000.  For those who are ready to getthe right education and make the moves as opportunities open to gain ground floor experience,Space is a place waiting for them to fill the void.                                                40 Naval Research Lab (  http://www.nrl.navy.mil  )41 Advanced Research Projects Lab (   http://www.arpa.mil  )42 Gerald M. Hoffman, Technology Payoff - How to Profit with Empowered Workers in the Information Age, NewYork, NY, Richard D. Irwin, 199443 Playstation is a trademark of the Sony Corporation (   http://www.sony.com    )44 Virtual Reality games and simulators can be experienced at a number of locations, example Dave & Buster's, anational adult game experience franchise. (   http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/990128/tx_dave_bu_1.html  )45 Russian Space Station Mir (http://38.201.67.70/history/shuttle-mir/ops/crew) and the Russian Space Agency inEnglish (   http://www.rka.ru/english/eindex.htm    )46 Bryan Burrough, Dragonfly - NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir, Harper Collins Publishers, 1998 (http://www.harperaduio.com    )47 Star Trek and Voyager are trademarks of Paramount Pictures (   http://www.startrek.com    )6The Author:Mr. William C. Hoffman, Jr. is an adjunct professor and faculty coordinator for WebsterUniversity, Colorado Springs Metropolitan Campus.  A former USAF officer, he was assigned toHQ NORAD, HQ AF Space Command, and the System Integration Office (SIO) for over ten andone-half years.  He managed the US$3B global secure communications technical architecturesupporting the Integrated Tactical Warning/Attack Assessment (ITW/AA system.He has taught graduate space and computer courses since 1983, and manages a facultyof nearly 40 practicing professionals in Space Operations, Space Systems Management,Computer Science, Computer Resources and Information Management, and TelecommunicationsManagement graduate programs.   He has been instrumental in establishing Webster University'spremier Space Programs and is working to take them across the Internet.He is employed by ARINC Incorporated, and is currently the lead system engineer,supporting SMC Det 11/CZGA, on the Global Positioning System (GPS), Ground Control Segment(GCS), replacement program.  There he is the senior member of a team of twelve engineers andanalysts over seeing and advising the GPS Joint Program Office, Ground Control SegmentProgram Manager, on the replacement of the entire GCS from a legacy main frame environment toa distributed, open systems, environment.  He specifically provides technical engineering andacquisition management support.He is a member of the Air Force Association, Institute of Navigation, National SpaceSociety, and Planetary Society.He has earned an MA in Government Acquisition and Procurement Management; an MA inSpace Systems Management; and will receive an MS in Computer Science - Distributed Systemsin May 1999.  Mr. Hoffman is pursuing a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Scienceswith a specialization in Technology Integration through Walden University.E-Mail - hoffmanwc@worldnet.att.net                                                ã This article is Copyright (c) 1999, All Rights Reserved, William C. Hoffman, Jr., and may be reproduced for educational purposes as long asit is published in its entirety (included references) and the Author's name is prominently printed along with copyright and contact information.Author may be contacted by E-Mail to: hoffmanwc@worldnet.att.net or through Webster University, 1485 Kelly Johnson Blvd., STE 300,Colorado Springs, CO 80920, (719) 590-7340.  FAX (719) 590-7343.

Paper Session I-C - Space Operations Management Training: Educating the Future Space Workforce for 2000 and Beyond

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Paper Session I-C - Space Operations Management Training: Educating the Future Space Workforce for 2000 and Beyond

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