Inside the US base tracking global missile launches

There is a short sharp shout: “Launching Yemen!” Men and women respond to the uniform in front of all computers in complete harmony, “a copy, the launch of Yemen.”

In the American space, they are called saints, not forces. Staring on their screens at a base on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, they can follow the launch of a missile from anywhere in the world – and its follow -up from the launch site to the possible influence point.

We are the first international journalists to be allowed inside the US Space Speaker at the Buckley Space Force base, a nerve center where the guardians are alert around the clock throughout the week.

They are surrounded by giant screens that provide maps and data sent from a constellation of military satellites in space.

These guardians are the first to discover the signing of the red heat when launching a missile. Moments later, there is another shout – “Iran’s launch” – followed by a choir from “Iran’s launch version.”

This time, it’s training. But last month they were doing it real – when Iran has launched Salvo from the missiles towards the US military base in Adid in QatarIn response to the Israeli Israelis on Iran.

Colonel Ann Hughes describes the mood that day as “heavy.” Unlike most of the launch operations, they were warned about it. They were able to track these Iranian missiles and then feed this information to air defense batteries on the ground.

“In the end, we saved the entire installation and the employees who were there,” she says, expressing relief.

Colonel Hughes says they have been exceptionally busy in recent years, as wars have been raging in the Middle East and Europe.

When I ask her if they had made warnings to Ukraine, Colonel Hughes says: “We are offering strategic and tactical missile warnings to all of us and the Allied forces.” The United States will not publicly confirm, but they may have gave Kyiv presidents when he was about to be attacked.

The Buckley Space Force base will be a major part of President Donald Trump’s plans for the American missile defense shield, known as the Golden Dome.

He allocated $ 175 billion (130 billion pounds) for the ambitious program – inspired by the Iron Dome Iron Air Defense System. Many believe it will cost a lot.

But the foundations are already present in Black. His horizon dominates a huge rose, round covers that protect strong satellite dishes inside. They look like giant golf balls on the horizon. These satellites discovered the radio frequency waves from Supernova 11,000 light years.

Lieutenant David Miller, commander of the US Space Operations Command, says the development of the golden dome, which is still in its early days, is a recognition of the increasing threats of the American homeland.

It is specifically mentioned in China and Russia.

Both have developed non -audio missiles that could travel more than five times the speed of sound. Both of them tested the tropical bombing systems that are difficult to track.

“The speed and physics associated with those who intercede require consideration of space -based objectives,” said General Miller. He prefers to talk about “capabilities” to defend America’s interests, rather than weapons in space.

The creation of the American space force five years ago is evidence that space is now a fight. President Trump launched the power in his first termThe space was described as “the latest field to combat war in the world.”

China and Russia have tested anti -reptile missiles, as well as ways to disrupt their communications.

General Miller says Russia “showed the ability to put a nuclear load” in space. The space is already a “very disputed” field, adding that “we must also be ready to conflict in space.”

Colonel Phoenix Hauser oversees the space forces for intelligence, monitoring and reconnaissance known as Delta 7. Their job is to know what is happening in space.

In their base near Colorado Spring, the teams watch screens showing thousands of small points all over the world. There are already about 12,000 satellites in space. By the end of the contract that can grow to 60,000.

Colonel Hauser says their primary focus on China. “It is a speed threat,” she says. China already has about a thousand satellites, half of them military. Over the course of the next decade, Colonel Hoser says it will have tens of thousands in the low -Earth orbit. The space is increasing increasing and dates.

“We are already wandering in space,” she says. “We see unsuccessful and unsafe connections from our opponents.” This includes satellites equipped with electronic jamming, laser and even window and weapons that can be used to transfer another satellite outside the path.

Some have suggested that there are already “dog battles” that occur in space.

“I don’t know that we are there completely in a kind of dog fighting perspective like dogs,” says Colonel Hauser. “But we certainly need to be ready for him.”

The American space force is preparing for the possibility of conflict in space. Colonel Hoser said a year ago that they “could not talk about the presence of offensive space capabilities.” Now, they say their focus “is to generate options for the president so that we can get the superiority of space and maintain it by controlling the offensive and defensive space.”

General Miller says that the only way to prevent conflict is “through strength and we have to have our own capabilities to defend our origins.” It will not give details about what it means accurately.

But modern US strikes on the Iranian nuclear programMidnight Hammer, giving a glimpse of what the American space force can actually do. These B-2 attacks also emphasize the reason for the continued domination of the American army space.

“You have to understand how much the US Army assumes the feature that we derive from space,” said General Miller. This includes the ability to move and communicate on the horizon, and provide accurate strikes using GPS.

The BBC was given the first details about how parents participated in the American force in the process.

“One of the things we did is to take advantage of our ability to electromagnetic war to ensure hegemony throughout the operation,” said General Miller. The electric magnetic spectrum includes radio waves, microide devices, infrared and visible light.

He says, “We knew that the environment would be jam.” The American space force guaranteed that the confusion was denied so that the American bombers could reach their goal and deliver huge ammunition bombs.

The US Space Force Delta 3 specialists were already working on the ground in the region.

Their leader, Colonel Angelo Fernandez, shows me the rows of satellite dishes and driving containers that can travel to the sites anywhere in the world.

He says that the dishes can be used to intercept and then sink the enemy forces’ contacts, by “broadcasting the highest noise”.

“They were able to protect American assets and at the same time open the flight corridor,” he says.

Before and after and after the mission, the United States for Guardians in Delta 7 in the United States provided monitoring.

Colonel Phoenix Hoser says they were able to monitor the electric magnetic spectrum “to understand whether Iran knows what is happening, do they have any tactical warning that may happen.” They helped maintain the element of surprise and allowed air crews to complete the uncomfortable task.

The American space force may be the smallest military service, but it is important to the American military power. General Miller says that the entire American army “depends on the superiority of space.”

He wants to make sure that this is the case. He has a warning to any opponent.

“When the American army focuses on something – God helps you!”

Production and photography by Matthew Godard