The 18th Space Defense Squadron (18 SDS) is a U.S. Space Force unit under Space Delta 2, located at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It is the U.S. Space Force's premier Space Domain Awareness squadron. The 18 SDS executes command and control of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network (SSN), maintaining a database of resident space objects (RSOs) and sharing space situational awareness (SSA) data with various entities, including governmental, commercial, and academic partners. The squadron's functions include launch detection and tracking, collision avoidance, human spaceflight support, reentry assessment, and management of the space object catalog, tracking over 47,000 man-made objects.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
U.S. Space Force 18th Space Defense Squadron tracking data initially showed objects associated with the 2024-03-13 launch in low Earth orbit (LEO).
The November 2022 Yunhai-3 launch involved a breakup of the Long March 6A upper stage that produced 37 pieces of debris tracked by the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron.
The first Yunhai-3 satellite, launched in November 2022 on a Long March 6A, is cataloged by the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron in a near-polar, near-circular orbit at 849 km altitude.
LeoLabs analysis showed the median time for an object to be cataloged by what is now the 18th Space Defense Squadron was 3.3 days in 2017 and nearly 7.3 days in 2023.
On 2023-08-22, the European Space Agency received information that 12 days earlier the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron had identified several pieces of debris in the vicinity of the Vespa payload adapter.
U.S. Space Force 18th Space Defense Squadron tracking data revealed a companion object in a closely matching orbit to the spaceplane on 2022-10-31 with NORAD ID 54218 (2022-093J COSPAR ID).
Space Delta 2 and its components—the 15th Space Surveillance Squadron, 18th Space Defense Squadron, 19th Space Defense Squadron, and 20th Space Surveillance Squadron—collaborated during Artemis I to test capabilities to maintain custody of cislunar objects.
In March 2022, SCOUT Space signed a Commercial SSA Data Sharing Agreement with USSPACECOM that includes the 18th Space Defense Squadron under Delta 2.
New orbital data from the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron in late March 2022 showed Shiyan-10 in an approximately 1,853 by 38,878 km orbit with a 63.6-degree inclination.
The United States Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron found no evidence that Starlink-1095 or Starlink-2305 made a close approach to China’s space station that met the threshold of established emergency collision criteria.
The Starlink team worked with the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites using ground radars.
The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they flew edge-on to minimize drag and worked with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates based on ground radars.
On 2021-11-01, the U.S. Space Force 18th Space Control Squadron cataloged a new object alongside Shijian-21 with the international designator 2021-094C.
Shijian-21 returned to geostationary orbit after undocking from Beidou-2 G2, according to tracking data from the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron.
The Shiyan-11 satellite was tracked in a 489 by 502-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit by the U.S. 18th Space Control Squadron.
On 2021-11-01 the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron cataloged a new object alongside Shijian-21 with the international designator 2021-094C.
Shiyan-10 has raised its perigee to 1,100 km, according to data from the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron (SPCS).
U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron published data showing the Shiyan-10 payload entered a geosynchronous transfer orbit of 177 x 40,105 km with a 51-degree inclination.
The U.S. 18th Space Control Squadron predicted reentry during a window between 10:13 a.m. Eastern 2021-05-08 and 4:13 a.m. Eastern 2021-05-09.
The 18th Space Control Squadron began offering daily updates to the Long March 5B rocket body’s location on www.space-track.org beginning 2021-05-04.