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.
Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear argued that the SDA needs at least two years to demonstrate its business model before being merged with the U.S. Space Force.
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett supports consolidating space programs under the U.S. Space Force and is pushing for the Space Development Agency to be realigned sooner than 2022.
Congress directed the Department of Defense to transfer the Space Development Agency to the Space Force by 2022-10-01.
The Department of Defense has committed to transferring the Space Development Agency to the Space Force by 2022-10-01.
An initial version of the report titled "Alternative Acquisition System for the United States Space Force" was delivered to congressional committees on 2020-05-20 and was subsequently pulled back for revision.
The Senate Armed Services Committee markup of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act allows voluntary transfer of personnel to the Space Force, expanding authority beyond last year’s NDAA that only allowed members of Air Force Space Command to move over.
The SASC markup directs the U.S. Space Force to work with research institutions to establish critical infrastructure and develop the future workforce.
The 2020-10-01 SASC markup did not include provisions on Space Force acquisition reforms that the 2020 NDAA directed Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett to submit.
A report titled "Alternative Acquisition System for the United States Space Force" was sent to congressional committees on 2020-05-20 and the Air Force notified committees the next day that the version they received was not the final version.
The Space Force planned to award Phase 2 contracts in summer 2020 with no significant issues affecting the schedule.
The Department of the Air Force, on behalf of the U.S. Space Force, plans to announce the two winners of the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 launch services procurement.
The U.S. Space Force is reviewing transfer applications and expects that approximately 6,000 of the 8,500 applicants will be selected for transfer.
Transfers from non-space career fields to the U.S. Space Force that require boarding and selection will not occur until February 2021.
The Space Force launched the X-37B autonomous spaceplane on 2020-05-17 carrying a Naval Research Laboratory space-based solar power experiment.
The U.S. Space Force plans to deploy five Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) missile-warning satellites by 2029.
The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act required the Pentagon to submit a report with recommendations on how reserve components would support the U.S. Space Force.
The Pentagon completed the report required by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act on how reserve components would support the U.S. Space Force but had not yet sent the report to Congress.
The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, enacted on 2019-12-20, created the U.S. Space Force but did not direct the establishment of a Space National Guard.
CBO estimated that a Space National Guard sized at about one-third of the Space Force—approximately 5,000 people—would have operational annual costs of about $385,000,000 to $490,000,000.
The task force consists of about 150 personnel and eight aircraft under the command of the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.