The U.S. Air Force (USAF) plays a significant role in the space industry, historically serving as the Department of Defense's executive agent for space, and developing early military space programs and launch vehicles. Although the U.S. Space Force was established as an independent branch in 2019, the Air Force continues to contribute to space operations, including training personnel, research and development, and maintaining partnerships. The USAF's space-related activities encompass satellite operations, missile warning, communication support, and collaboration with allies to ensure regional stability. Key partners include the U.S. Space Force, other branches of the military, and international allies.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The Air Force memo expresses concern that requiring source selection information to be provided to Congress 10 days prior to award creates a perception that Congress influenced the Phase 2 award decision.
Adam Smith criticized the Air Force's decision to select two providers in 2020 to split all national security launches from 2022 to 2026 as favoring incumbents and shutting out emerging commercial players.
The U.S. Air Force is overseeing the STP-2 mission and procured the launch from SpaceX in 2012.
Former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson created a Space Force Planning Task Force before her departure on 2019-05-31.
Blue Origin sought the Air Force to select three providers in Phase 2 and to shorten the contract period to three years but the Air Force maintained a two-provider strategy.
Smith's mark directs the Air Force to factor government investments in companies' launch vehicles, including LSA funding from 2018 and Rocket Propulsion System development contracts from 2016, into the total evaluated price of bidders.
In October 2018 the Air Force awarded $3,200,000,000 in Launch Service Agreement contracts to United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, and Northrop Grumman.
The Air Force issued a request for bids for the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement on 2019-05-03 with proposals due 2019-08-01.
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s 2020 NDAA markup recommends renaming Stopher’s position to principal assistant to the secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration and expanding the role to synchronize fragmented procurement programs.
The Air Force memo states that capping Phase 2 launches at 29 would dramatically increase costs per mission and damage multiple providers' business cases and return on investment calculations.
SBIRS GEO-4 launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 2018-01-20 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 rocket.
SBIRS GEO-4 was declared fully operational by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center on 2019-06-06.
The U.S. Air Force requested $1,400,000,000 for Next Gen OPIR in fiscal year 2020, including $817,000,000 for development of Lockheed’s three GEO satellites, $107,000,000 for two polar-orbiting satellites by Northrop Grumman, $264,000,000 for ground systems, and $205,000,000 for studies of future parts and material obsolescence.
The U.S. Air Force canceled procurement of SBIRS 7 and SBIRS 8 in 2018 and transitioned to the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program.
The Mission Control Station for SBIRS GEO-4 is operated by the 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado.
The committee directs the Air Force to provide a briefing to the committee by 2019-09-30 on timelines and costs for procuring GPS III satellites.
The committee directs the Department of Defense to brief lawmakers by 2019-09-15 on the Air Force’s plan to leverage commercial investments in responsive launch capabilities and integrate them into DoD space operations.
Maxar Technologies received multiple contracts in the first quarter of 2019 from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency with a total value of more than $95,000,000.
One Maxar award is a U.S. Air Force multi-year project worth more than $70,000,000 to develop a platform to test the use of automated intelligence and machine learning in military operations.
Boeing has secured geostationary communications satellite orders 2019 for a Viasat ViaSat-3 satellite focused on the Asia-Pacific region and for the U.S. Air Force’s WGS-11 satellite.