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’s Space and Missile Systems Center awarded contracts each worth up to $500,000,000 to Raytheon and L3Harris to develop and produce cyber secure satellite communications modems for the Department of the Air Force and the Army.
AEHF-6 is a $1,400,000,000 Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite for the U.S. Space Force.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying a U.S. Space Force communications satellite is set to lift off 2020-03-26 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
As of 2020-03-24, the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Space Wing did not foresee other launches from Cape Canaveral being delayed because of COVID-19 restrictions on spaceport activities.
The U.S. Space Force is expected to select two rocket companies to launch dozens of national security satellites scheduled for launch between 2022 and 2027.
The U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center awarded PTS contracts to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman to develop jam-resistant communications payloads.
The U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center released a solicitation for bids on 2020-03-18 for a 10-year contract to manage the Space Enterprise Consortium.
The U.S. Space Force classed the AEHF-6 satellite mission as essential because it provides highly secure, nuclear-hardened communications to military forces.
A report due to Congress on 2020-03-31 will recommend changes to how Space Force procurement programs are funded and managed.
Constellations of satellites that use infrared sensors to detect missile launches are being developed by the U.S. Space Force, the Space Development Agency, and the Missile Defense Agency.
The RAND study was delivered to the Air Force in September 2019, about three months before the Space Force was officially established in the National Defense Authorization Act.
The RAND study recommends that some Air Force career fields develop a 'space track' to provide the additional training and development necessary for Air Force officers who will serve in the Space Force.
The Space Force plans to invest in analytical tools to test how satellite constellations would perform under attack.
The Space Force requested $2,600,000,000 for space operations, troop training and equipment maintenance.
The Space Force moved the commercial satcom integration program into a 2021 budget line called Fighting Satcom Enterprise and requested $43,000,000 for it.
The Space Force requested $2,300,000,000 in 2021 to continue development of the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) constellation.
The Space Force requested $10,300,000,000 for research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E).
The Space Force requested $2,400,000,000 for the procurement of satellites, ground equipment and launch services.
The U.S. Space Force requested $15,400,000,000 in its 2021 budget submission.
The Space Force did not request funds in 2021 to buy new WGS satellites.