Several opinions stated in your March 8 editorial [“The STSS Demo Follies,” page 18] indicate a lack of understanding of aspects of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS), notably that the U.S. Missile Defense Agency has eliminated “dedicated” tests of the STSS in our Integrated Master Test Plan (IMTP). The only significant change reflected in the IMTP is that planning of future missile defense tests doesn’t include “dedicated” tests of any single element in any test event. The cost and resources associated with the planning and execution of these test events demand that we learn as much as possible from each and every test, so instead of focusing on only a few “dedicated” tests, we now include planning for STSS to participate in every test. Also, the plan has now been expanded to include integrated flight tests using STSS data to cue an interceptor. Actually, STSS was cued and prepared to participate in the ground-based midcourse test in January and the recent Airborne Laser Test Bed experiment. Unfortunately, the satellites were out of position for both events due to delays in other range assets, resulting in delayed target missile launches.