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.
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When the EELV program began in 1995, the Air Force provided $500,000,000 each to McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed Martin to subsidize development of new rockets.
The Air Force intends to award phase 2 launch contracts to only two providers and split awards 60/40 between those two providers for missions flown between 2022 and 2025.
The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act limited the number of additional RD-180 engines ULA could order on the Air Force’s behalf to 18.
In 2016 the Air Force awarded roughly $1,000,000,000 in Other Transaction Authority research-and-development contracts to ULA, SpaceX, Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems), and Aerojet Rocketdyne.
SpaceX received Air Force funding in 2016 to continue development of the Raptor reusable methane-fueled engine intended to replace upper-stage Merlin engines.
The Air Force planned to select three companies to split more than $2,000,000,000 in Launch Service Agreement funding to develop rockets suitable for national security payloads.
On 2018-10-10, the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center allocated up to $500,000,000 to Blue Origin for the two-stage version of the reusable New Glenn rocket.
Falcon Heavy debuted in February and was awarded a $130,000,000 Air Force contract in June.
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson proposed on 2018-09-14 a Space Force cost estimate of about $13,000,000,000 over five years to form a new military branch and a unified combatant command.
The 2018-12-30 launch was scheduled for 8:38 a.m. Pacific Standard Time from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
SpaceX launched the entire Iridium Next constellation on Falcon 9 rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The U.S. Air Force awarded contracts to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and United Launch Alliance to further develop their launch vehicles so they can meet national security requirements that include flying to nine different orbits.
The Atlas V mission delivered the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-4) Air Force communications satellite to a customized geostationary transfer orbit.
The U.S. Air Force will not be able to order any more Atlas V launches after 2022-12-31.
The U.S. Air Force selected the Atlas V 551 configuration with five strap-on solid boosters for enhanced geostationary transfer orbit placement.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket configured with five strap-on solid rocket boosters launched from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 12:15 a.m. EST on a Wednesday.
United Launch Alliance and SpaceX will compete one mission at a time under EELV phase 1(a) procurements until the Air Force starts buying launch services from new competitors.
A Delta 2 launched 48 GPS satellites for the U.S. Air Force, establishing the operational GPS constellation.
The Advanced EHF communications satellite AEHF-4 is a U.S. Air Force satellite valued at $1,800,000,000.
Over 29 years, the Delta 2 launched 155 missions for the U.S. Air Force, NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, and commercial customers.