The U.S. Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Department of Defense, established in December 2019. Its primary role is to organize, train, and equip space forces to protect U.S. and allied interests in space by ensuring space superiority. The USSF manages space launch operations, satellite operations, space environment surveillance, and satellite defense, and partners with organizations like NASA on space domain awareness and planetary defense. Key areas of focus include missile warning, satellite communications, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
USSF-57 will launch the first of three Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared geostationary satellites designed for missile warning.
The Space Force intends to buy MEO satellites through fixed-price contracts from multiple vendors to maintain competition.
The Space Force requested about $500,000,000 in its 2024 budget for MEO missile-defense satellites and projects to spend $3,500,000,000 through fiscal year 2028.
Frank Calvelli, as the Space Force senior procurement executive, directed changes in satellite programs to move away from traditional geostationary missile-warning platforms toward more proliferated, resilient networks of small satellites.
On 29 October 2023 at 02:00 a.m. PT, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
The Space Force is seeking focal plane arrays for MEO satellites that are easier to manufacture, more resistant to attack, and more sensitive to fast hypersonic missiles.
SpaceX had scheduled a double-header with 23 Starlink satellites set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in late October 2023.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle carrying 23 Starlink satellites (Starlink-118 / Starlink 6-25) was aborted at 00:16 UTC on 30 2023-10-01 (29 2023-10-20:16 EDT) at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The U.S. Space Force plans to procure 27 missile-defense satellites for a medium Earth orbit constellation.
AAC Clyde Space delivered the VDES CubeSat Ymir-1 to Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for launch integration for a planned launch in November 2023.
The pad is scheduled to host the Falcon 9 CRS-29 cargo mission on 2023-11-05 followed by a Falcon Heavy mission for the Space Force in late November.
The Space Force plans to replace as many as 12 SCN parabolic satellite dishes with electronic phased array antennas now in development by BlueHalo under a $1,400,000,000 contract.
Space Operations Command is the first Field Command of the U.S. Space Force tasked with protecting America and its allies in, from, and to space.
Integrated Mission Deltas are part of a new provisional Space Force construct that will integrate acquisitions around space mission areas.
Establishing provisional Integrated Mission Deltas is an important step in the United States Space Force's effort to forge a purpose-built service under the Unified Mission Readiness concept.
Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, Space Operations Command commander, described the activation of the PNT Integrated Mission Delta as a significant milestone for Space Operations Command, the Space Force, and the nation.
On 2023-10-26, the Air Force Research Laboratory established new Cooperative Research and Development Agreements between the U.S. Space Force and two Indian startups.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) completed a Critical Design Review for Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A) under a contract with U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific on behalf of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command to support operation of legacy and future missile-warning satellites.
The Space Development Agency is an organization under the U.S. Space Force building a mesh network of military satellites in low Earth orbit.
United Launch Alliance plans to launch the inaugural Vulcan Centaur mission, Cert-1, on 2023-12-24 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.