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.
Costello oversees Air Force and Space Force procurements.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a set of 60 Starlink satellites on 2021-05-26 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
On 2021-05-25, Frank Kendall committed to ensuring the Space Force receives the necessary resources to continue standing up units and acquiring new systems.
The Space Force is developing Protected Tactical SATCOM secure communications satellites with an estimated cost of $1,000,000,000.
The Space Force is developing the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) ground control for Next Generation OPIR with an estimated cost of $3,000,000,000.
DoD consolidated some organizations under the Space Force while creating the Space Development Agency and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office to quickly develop new systems.
The Government Accountability Office identified that the U.S. Space Force plans to acquire billions of dollars worth of new satellites over the coming years.
The Space Force is developing Next Generation OPIR Block 0 missile warning and infrared ISR satellites with an estimated cost of $8,400,000,000.
The U.S. Space Force completed a DMSP reliability assessment concluding the constellation will reach mission end-of-life between late 2023 and sometime in 2026.
The U.S. Space Force will solicit industry bids next month for deep-space radar sensors that can track active satellites and debris in high orbits above 22,0 m.
The U.S. Space Force expects to invest from $140,000,000 to $200,000,000 per year on DARC prototyping and testing in the near term.
Starfish received $15,000 from the Hyperspace Challenge, a business accelerator run by the Air Force Research Laboratory and CNM Ingenuity for the U.S. Space Force, to develop autonomous technology for space.
The U.S. Space Force is requesting satellite operators to provide updates on the performance and capabilities of their networks to inform decisions about buying LEO broadband services.
USSF-51 is scheduled to launch in late 2022.
USSF-106 was projected to launch in mid to late 2022.
United Launch Alliance received a $337,000,000 contract on 2021-08-07 to launch USSF-51 and USSF-106.
USSF-51 was awarded to United Launch Alliance in August 2020.
In February, BAE Systems won a $247,000,000 U.S. Space Force contract to develop MGUE Increment 2 modules with a new M-code upgrade.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the SBIRS GEO Flight 5 mission lifted off on 2021-05-18 at 1:37 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Atlas 5 will continue to launch civil and commercial payloads and retains six remaining National Security Space Launch missions under contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.