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.
At the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Jason B. Mello led a team of senior scientists and directed an over $500,000,000 per year portfolio researching and developing future technologies for the Air Force and Space Force.
Rhea Space Activity won a U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research contract to design a software tool for monitoring the trajectory of satellites in cislunar space.
The U.S. Air Force awarded RSA a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to develop a comprehensive LUNINT capability.
The ROK Air Force will perform joint drills with the U.S. Space Force under an 2021-08-27 agreement signed between ROK Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Park In-ho and U.S. Space Force Gen. John W. Raymond at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The U.S. Air Force awarded United Launch Alliance a $191,100,000 contract in 2017 to launch STP-3 in 2019.
The U.S. Air Force first deployed the Counter Communications System in 2004 to counter electronic warfare jammers that other countries were fielding to disrupt American satellites.
Capella Space signed and maintained contracts with the US Navy, US Air Force, National Geospatial Agency, In-Q-Tel, the Space Development Agency, and the US Space Force to provide on-demand, high-resolution SAR data and analytics for the US government.
On 2021-10-20, the U.S. Air Force extended a research contract with Rhea Space Activity to develop a software tool to monitor and predict satellite trajectories in cislunar space.
The Air Force requested $47,900,000 in its fiscal year 2022 budget proposal to conduct studies and rocket cargo demonstrations.
Spire Global and GeoOptics established radio occultation constellations and began supplying data to NASA, NOAA, and the U.S. Air Force.
Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond and Republic of Korea Air Force chief of staff Gen. Park In-ho reached an agreement on 2021-08-27 at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado to strengthen bilateral space partnership.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has not responded to the Colorado lawmakers' letter sent on September 30.
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station by United Launch Alliance at 5:34 a.m. ET on 2021-10-16.
SpaceWERX is modeled after the Air Force’s technology incubator AFWERX, which was created in 2017 to attract small businesses and entrepreneurs in the space industry to work with the government.
The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Air Force to create an office titled assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration to oversee Space Force programs.
Orbit Fab has received $3,000,000 in contracts from the U.S. Air Force to flight qualify the RAFTI refueling port.
Earth Observant received a 2020 U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research contract to develop a VLEO Earth-imaging satellite capable of collecting 25-centimeter-resolution imagery and transferring data to warfighters in minutes.
Orbital Micro Systems is preparing to launch an updated version of its GEMS satellite called GEMS2 in 2022 with microwave radiometers designed and manufactured by OMS with support from the U.S. Air Force, Space Force, Navy, Lockheed Martin, and the UK Space Agency.
The next GEMS2 satellites, being readied for launch in early 2022, carry microwave radiometers designed and manufactured by OMS with support from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin, and the UK Space Agency.
Orbital Micro Systems won a $1,800,000 contract to provide weather data for a U.S. Air Force pilot program.