A new laboratory focused on simulating conflict in space will help deter and plan for war in orbit.

Gen. Stephen Whiting, the leader of Space Command, announced Tuesday that the new Capability Assessment and Validation Environment or CAVE in Colorado Springs has achieved minimum viable capability.

The CAVE brings together modeling and simulation and analytics experts that will help plan for conflict in space the command hopes to avoid, he said. But new investment is critical because both Russia and China have ramped up their investments in space.

China has more than tripled its on-orbit intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites since 2018, he said.

“Frankly, China is moving at a breathtaking speed,” he said.

The most common threat to satellites is jamming, which disrupts the signal used to communicate with satellites, he said.

Colorado Springs-based Space Command is charged with defending the area 100 kilometers above the Earth and its goal is to avoid conflict through deterrence. The Space Force is fielding hundreds of new satellites to ensure that if a single satellite was targeted, services could still be maintained. The goal is to make return on investment in a space attack less appealing.

“Direct space combat would be economically and environmentally devastating perhaps for decades,” Whiting said.

The command is also charged with providing supporting support services across the Department of Defense, such as communications.

Since declaring full operational capability in December, the command has grown past its early start-up phase. While some members of Congress would still like to see Space Command moved to Alabama, Whiting said considers President Joe Biden’s 2023 decision on the matter final.

In 2021, Former President Donald Trump announced the command would move to Huntsville, Ala., kicking off a political battle between Colorado and Alabama that has largely died down.

“We are firmly headquartered here in Colorado Springs,” Whiting said.

To help protect critical space services, Whiting also announced Tuesday that the U.S. was inviting additional partners to join a multinational effort to enhance resilience in space, among other goals, called Operation Olympic Defender.

The U.S., Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom are the current partners in Operation Olympic Defender. Whiting said the U.S. has invited Germany, France and New Zealand to join the work that includes sharing intelligence and planning together. While the countries haven’t accepted, the invitation was not a surprise because all three countries have work closely with the U.S. in space.

“Space is a team sport,” he said.

Commercial industry is also an important partner, and Space Command has embedded cyber experts in the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center in Colorado Springs, he said.

The center opened last year and is focused on sharing information about threats in space, such as satellites that can listen in on others, The Gazette reported previously.

“Cyber is the soft underbelly of the space enterprise,” Whiting said.

The tens of thousands of pieces of space junk also pose a risk and every day a Space Force squadron checks to see if a piece of debris might hit an an active satellite.

The U.S. sends out announcements about those possible collisions to everyone including China and Russia.

Whiting said the U.S. doesn’t always hear back for the Chinese.

“We would love to have a regular path to share safety data,” he said.