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 U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force provide about 80% of all Department of Defense resources in the Arctic region, including military bases, training complexes, satellites, command-and-control stations, and early warning and missile defense radars.
The U.S. Air Force is stationing 54 F-35 advanced fighter aircraft at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.
The U.S. Air Force awarded a $19,300,000 contract to Tomorrow.io last year to support development of the company’s first four weather satellites.
Tomorrow.io completed a critical design review (CDR) of its proprietary weather radar satellites with the U.S. Air Force earlier 2022-05.
DoD approved four evaluation factors recommended by the Air Force to assess six candidate locations for U.S. Space Command headquarters.
The IG criticized the Air Force basing office personnel for poor record keeping during the selection phase.
The Air Force developed the 2020 basing action based on best practices used by the Army when it selected Austin, Texas, for the Army Futures Command in 2018.
Senator Tommy Tuberville stated that the Air Force's process leading to the selection of Redstone Arsenal was solid and based on objective factors.
AFRL’s rocket lab based at Edwards Air Force Base, California, is soliciting information and comments from industry on their ability to meet future responsive launch missions and to identify specific investments in technology that would improve responsive capabilities.
Air Force Gen. John Hyten attributed $40,000,000,000 in Defense Department savings to competition enabled by SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
The Space Force currently receives support from more than 800 members of the Air National Guard serving in eight states.
The U.S. Air Force started the PTS program in 2018 to reduce military dependence on AEHF satellites for the most sensitive classified communications.
ALITEC was tested on tactical missile-sized solid rocket motors under a program jointly funded by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.
The demonstrations validated the training capabilities of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force personnel for conducting liquid rocket operations.
The U.S. Air Force awarded Bluestaq a contract in 2019 to build a repository of space domain awareness data from commercial providers for military users.
SpaceX lofted the latest batch of 10 Iridium Next satellites in early 2019 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Northrop Grumman has more than 2,200 employees across Colorado supporting customers that include the U.S. Space Force, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Missile Defense Agency, and the intelligence community.
SpaceX received a contract from the U.S. Air Force in February 2019 to launch NROL-85 and NROL-87.
Winkler was responsible for oversight of all U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army programs and DoD space activities in his last position.
The ISAM strategy was coordinated by OSTP and involved various government agencies including NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the Federal Aviation Administration.