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 shifted its operational posture from global support to active homeland defense with the activation of U.S. Space Forces Northern (SPACEFOR-NORTH).
The GEM-63XL anomaly surfaced on Feb. 27 during the USSF-87 mission before Vulcan Centaur deployed two Northrop Grumman-built Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites, GSSAP 7 and GSSAP 8.
The U.S. Space Force shifted its operational posture from global support to active homeland defense with the activation of U.S. Space Forces Northern (SPACEFOR-NORTH).
The October 2024 GEM-63XL anomaly delayed United Launch Alliance’s plans to launch USSF-106 and USSF-87 before the end of 2024.
The completion of engineering and integration work under the LinQuest Corp. modification will transition the technical deliverables into operational Space Force frameworks.
DARPA, the U.S. Space Force, the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, Portal, Orbit Fab, CisLunar Industries, DPhi, and Solstar Space are manifested to fly payloads on Vigoride 7.
The U.S. Space Force has suspended launches of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket under the National Security Space Launch program while investigating and fixing an anomaly related to the Northrop Grumman GEM-63XL solid rocket motor.
Voyager is operating in the USSF-87 solid rocket booster splashdown area to recover solid rocket boosters from the ocean.
The USSF-87 incident is the second performance off-nominal event in Vulcan Centaur’s first four flights.
The USSF-87 mission deployed the seventh and eighth satellites of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program into their intended orbits.
Data analysis of the USSF-87 launch identified a performance deviation that may impact the upcoming launch manifest.
Zak Kirstein played a key role in Northwood Space securing a $49.8 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to support the Satellite Control Network (SCN).
The first phase of Ringleader exercises will commence within the next several months and will involve participation from both the U.S. Space Force and the U.S. Air Force.
United Launch Alliance and the U.S. Space Force are investigating a technical anomaly that occurred during the launch of the USSF-87 mission on February 12, 2026.
The USSF-87 flight represented the second operational national security mission for the Vulcan Centaur rocket following its NSSL certification and the USSF-106 mission in August 2025.
The U.S. Space Force has exchanged GPS missions between Vulcan and Falcon 9 to maintain orbital replenishment schedules.
The U.S. Space Force will leverage an expanded Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC) to validate Ringleader capabilities.
The anomaly from the USSF-87 mission is being evaluated for potential manufacturing defects that could delay the next Global Positioning System III satellite launch scheduled for March 2026.
Astranis was named to the Protected Tactical Satcom-Global Space Force program for anti-jam military satcom capabilities from smaller form factor satellites.
Kelli Furrer is Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Slingshot Aerospace and has supported NOAA’s TraCSS program and Space Force efforts to detect and respond to GPS interference.