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 U.S. Space Force (USSF) has released its Space Test Enterprise Vision to guide its test and evaluation mission.
Frank Kendall's 2022-04-01 proposal did not recommend establishing a Space National Guard and recommended giving current Air and Army Guard members who support Space Force operations the option of joining the Space Force active component.
NSTTC operational planning began in late 2021 in coordination with Space Systems Command and Headquarters U.S. Space Force.
Virgin Orbit’s 2022-06-29 mission, called Straight Up, will carry seven U.S. government payloads on a launch procured by the U.S. Space Force.
The Space Force requested $89,000,000 in fiscal year 2023 to begin the design and development of a National Space Test and Training Complex (NSTTC).
Twelve months before the launch, the NRO required the NROL-85 payload to be delivered to a different orbit, prompting a range change to Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) on 2022-05-03 called for the Space Force to present a trained force with substantive capabilities to the combatant commands.
The Space Force’s top mission is to modernize the missile-warning space architecture to defend against increasingly advanced hypersonic missiles and glide vehicles developed by U.S. adversaries.
The Space Force currently receives support from more than 800 members of the Air National Guard serving in eight states.
Frank Calvelli’s prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee stated that the establishment of the U.S. Space Force provided the Department of Defense an opportunity to take a fresh look at how to equip the force with new capabilities for the future fight and that the commercial sector is at the forefront of technologies such as artificial intelligence, edge computing, and machine learning.
The Space Force is funding a separate Protected Tactical Satcom (PTS) constellation for military tactical communications and plans to spend about $2,500,000,000 over the next five years to continue development of PTS satellites and the Protected Tactical Enterprise Service (PTES) ground system.
The U.S. Space Force plans to request nearly $8,000,000,000 over the next five years to scale up development of classified communications satellite networks.
The Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The U.S. Space Force plans to request funding in the 2024 budget for space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
The U.S. Space Force will seek industry input before establishing requirements for space-based ISR.
The second demonstration will occur at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
The demonstrations validated the training capabilities of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force personnel for conducting liquid rocket operations.
Varda Space Industries won a $25,000 prize from a Space Force accelerator.
SpaceX’s most recent Starlink mission launched on 2022-04-21 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
On 2022-04-22, the U.S. Space Force enabled the Space Fence tracking radar to feed data directly into the Unified Data Library.