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.
Northrop Grumman provided the Graphite Epoxy Motor 63 solid rocket booster for the USSF-8 mission.
The USSF-8 mission delivered two satellites, GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6, into orbit to further the Space Domain Awareness mission.
The Atlas 5 USSF-8 flight used the 511 configuration with a single solid rocket booster and a 5-meter-diameter payload fairing.
The USSF-8 mission was delivered to near-geosynchronous orbit after a nearly seven-hour mission.
Aerojet Rocketdyne provided the RL10C-1 engine for the Centaur upper stage on the USSF-8 mission.
Northrop Grumman manufactured and delivered both GSSAP payloads for the USSF-8 mission.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the USSF-8 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command lifted off on 2022-01-21 at 2:00 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Atlas 5 lifted off at 2:00 p.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The Atlas V launch carrying the USSF-8 mission is planned to lift off on Friday, 2022-01-21 at 2:00 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The USSF-8 mission will launch two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites, GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6, to a near-geosynchronous orbit approximately 22,483 km (36,0 m) above the equator.
Northrop Grumman provided the Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) 63 solid rocket booster for the USSF-8 mission.
The USSF-8 mission will launch on an Atlas V 511 configuration rocket that includes a 5-meter short payload fairing and stands 59.7 m (59.7 m) tall.
Aerojet Rocketdyne provided the RL10C-1 engine for the Centaur upper stage on the USSF-8 mission.
The Space Force operates the military’s satellite systems and provides space-based services including communications, navigation, weather, and missile warning to the Defense Department and allied partners.
When the Space Force was established, officials projected it would have a force of about 16,000 people and intentionally created it as a lean organization due to congressional concerns about the cost of adding a new military branch.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall prioritized energizing the Space Force’s procurement bureaucracy in 2022 to acquire advanced technologies for satellite protection.
The U.S. Space Force will focus in 2022 on designing the military's future space architecture.
Bluestaq won a $280,000,000 contract from the U.S. Space Force in 2024 to develop a cloud-based data repository known as the unified data library (UDL).
The U.S. Space Force awarded Bluestaq a contract in 2019 to build a repository of space domain awareness data from commercial providers for military users.
The Space Development Agency will merge with the U.S. Space Force later in 2022.