--- title: Air Force Hopes to Build 21st Century Sextant description: The U.S. Air Force wants to smart bombs to use the stars to navigate, in case GPS systems are disabled. canonical: https://time.com/3736730/the-real-star-wars-air-force-heads-to-the-heavens-for-weapons-guidance/ author: Mark Thompson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-08T23:13:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:45:05.129Z article:section: Business og:title: Why the Air Force Wants to Build a 21st Century Sextant og:description: The military wants smart bombs to use the stars to find their targets. og:url: https://time.com/3736730/the-real-star-wars-air-force-heads-to-the-heavens-for-weapons-guidance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399e11e6a05ab717/698782b73c16392aa9452275/108426954.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: An armoured vehicle of US Marines from 1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why the Air Force Wants to Build a 21st Century Sextant twitter:description: The military wants smart bombs to use the stars to find their targets. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399e11e6a05ab717/698782b73c16392aa9452275/108426954.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The _Real_ Star Wars: Air Force Heads to the Heavens for Weapons Guidance by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Mar 8, 2015 11:13 PM CUT  The Air Force wants to harness stars like these in the Milky Way over Iraq to guide future weapons if the GPS system is attacked. The Air Force wants to harness stars like these in the Milky Way over Iraq to guide future weapons if the GPS system is attacked.DMITRY KOSTYUKOV / AFP / Getty Images by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Mar 8, 2015 11:13 PM CUT The success of precision-guided bombs in 1991’s Gulf War was a revelation. The world watched transfixed as U.S. generals briefed before screens showing scratchy black and white videos of American weapons blasting bridges, buildings and brigades with amazing precision. Potential foes were dutifully impressed, and have spent a lot of time figuring out how to disable or destroy the satellite-based Global Positioning System that have since cheaply turned dumb bombs into smart ones—and gets the planes carrying them to the right spot. “Over the last several years, many potential adversaries have invested significantly in counter measures associated with Global Positioning System (GPS) guided weapons,” the Air Force [warns](https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=da7953a9eb69f046ce6c0120440565e1&tab=core&%5Fcview=0 "undefined") in its formal Mar. 5 call for help developing something to replace GPS if a foe knocks it off line. “The Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) response to this challenge is the Celestial-aided Strike at Any Range (CStAR) program.” [GPS](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/space%5Fgeodesy/ATLAS/gps.html "undefined") is a constellation of roughly 24 satellites that offers the precise location of your smart phone, your car, an airplane or pretty much anything else. The satellites, orbiting about 13,000 miles above the Earth, do this by sharing timing signals that pinpoint a GPS unit’s whereabouts. But the radio signals are weak, making them vulnerable to jamming. And killer-satellite tests by nations like China have unnerved the Pentagon’s high command, given the U.S. military’s reliance on GPS to track and guide everything from [bunker-busting bombs](http://www.boeing.com/boeing/defense-space/missiles/jdam/ "undefined") to [shipping containers](http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2007/May/Pages/TrackingMilitary2637.aspx "undefined").  An antique brass sextant Jody Dole / Getty Images The growing threat to the GPS system is leading the Air Force to seek what amounts to a 21st Century sextant, an updated navigation tool created in the 16th Century to help sailors chart their ocean voyages with help from the stars. The new version’s goal: “to reduce the technical risk to future weapon systems by demonstrating an integrated navigation solution that can later be tailored to a specific weapon platform.” Easier said than done, of course. The Air Force didn’t offer many details about CStAR in its [plea](https://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/5%5Fmar2015%5Fbaa%5Fcstar%5Ffinal.pdf "undefined") for assistance. Further information about it is contained in the _Celestial-aided Weapons Navigation Technology Security Classification Guide_, available only to companies eligible to receive what the Pentagon calls “military critical technical data.” Let’s just hope the stars stay out of reach. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3736730/the-real-star-wars-air-force-heads-to-the-heavens-for-weapons-guidance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3736730/the-real-star-wars-air-force-heads-to-the-heavens-for-weapons-guidance/"},"headline":"The Real Star Wars: Air Force Heads to the Heavens for Weapons Guidance","datePublished":"2015-03-08T23:13:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:05.129Z","description":"If a foe disables or destroys GPS, Pentagon still needs to drop bombs accurately","url":"https://time.com/3736730/the-real-star-wars-air-force-heads-to-the-heavens-for-weapons-guidance/","keywords":["Tech","Military","Technology","Weapons","Air Force","National Security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399e11e6a05ab717/698782b73c16392aa9452275/108426954.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Thompson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399e11e6a05ab717/698782b73c16392aa9452275/108426954.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"An armoured vehicle of US Marines from 1","caption":"An armoured vehicle of US Marines from 1","creditText":"DMITRY KOSTYUKOV / AFP / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3736730/the-real-star-wars-air-force-heads-to-the-heavens-for-weapons-guidance/","name":"The Real Star Wars: Air Force Heads to the Heavens for Weapons Guidance"}}]}] ```