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.
The Space Force plans to establish a service component within U.S. European Command based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
RUNNER-1 will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-8 rideshare mission from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.
The U.S. Space Force is ordering three SDA Tranche 1 Tracking Layer launches.
USSF-31 is a classified mission that will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket from the Eastern range.
The Space Force plans to buy two Next-Gen OPIR polar satellites from Northrop Grumman.
USSF-114 is a classified mission that will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket from the Western range.
SpaceX was assigned five Space Development Agency launches to low Earth orbit and the U.S. Space Force classified mission USSF-31.
To date, only one NSSL Phase 2 mission has launched: the USSF-67 mission flown by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in January.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) was awarded six NSSL missions: SDA Tranche 1 Tracking Layer T1TL-B, SDA T1TL-C, SDA T1TL-D, SDA T1TL-E, SDA T1TR-C, and USSF-31.
The Antares first-stage vehicle developed with Firefly engines is designated MLV and is intended to be offered to the Space Force for National Security Space Launch Phase 3.
Above Space (formerly Orbital Assembly) aims to develop large rotating space stations and secured a $1,700,000 U.S. Space Force contract in March 2023 to work on technologies for deployable structures.
The Transporter-8 rideshare mission is scheduled to launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.
On 2023-06-08, the U.S. Space Force launch procurement office assigned an additional 12 missions to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance under the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contract.
United Launch Alliance was awarded six NSSL missions: NROL-64, NROL-83, GPS III-08, SDA T1TR-B, SDA T1TR-D, and USSF-114.
United Launch Alliance successfully conducted a booster engine flight readiness firing on 2023-06-07 at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
JFCC IMD operates an operations center at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado.
On 2023-06-05, the U.S. Space Force awarded L3Harris Technologies a $29,000,000 contract to design a sensor payload to track hypersonic missiles from medium Earth orbit.
The Space Systems Command announced plans to launch a digital engineering ecosystem platform to integrate existing digital engineering efforts across the U.S. Space Force ecosystem.
Space Force delayed delivery of the next-generation ground control segment in 2022, pushing delivery until at least December 2023.
The Space Force selected Millennium Space Systems and Raytheon Technologies to design sensors for MTC Epoch 1.