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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The Air Force awarded a $5,000,000 contract to Applied Technology Associates of Paso Robles, California to assemble the Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor 3 developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The Air Force awarded a $1,800,000 contract to Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, Alabama to assemble ECP-Lite, a sensor developed by the Aerospace Corp.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 9:07 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida carrying 60 Starlink satellites on 2020-01-29.
On 2020-01-28, Raytheon won a $197,000,000 U.S. Air Force contract to design a ground system to collect and process data from missile warning satellites.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, signed by President Trump on 2019-12-20, enacted the U.S. Space Force and created the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration.
Congress created the assistant secretary for acquisition and integration to oversee U.S. Space Force procurements under a chain of command separate from Air Force acquisition programs.
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will launch in November on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
A team of U.S. military and civilian defense officials spent most of 2019 drawing up plans to create a U.S. Space Force as a new service branch within the Department of the Air Force.
Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett stated that about 16,000 personnel from Air Force Space Command have been assigned to the U.S. Space Force and that the transition will take about 18 months.
Momentum to create a separate U.S. space service began building again in 2017 when Representatives Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper proposed legislation to create a Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force.
The intelligence community opposed merging the National Reconnaissance Office with the U.S. Space Force, while some stakeholders support transferring Air Force elements within the NRO that directly support satellite operations to the U.S. Space Force.
The U.S. Space Force was established within the Department of the Air Force by renaming Air Force Space Command and directing the Department of Defense to form the new branch with existing Air Force resources.
In a 2019-12-02 memo, Secretary Barrett requested transfer of fiscal year 2020 Air Force funds to Space Force accounts including $9,300,000,000 for weapons systems and operations and $1,400,000,000 for weapons system sustainment.
The U.S. government and the three companies that received Air Force LSA contracts filed motions on 2020-01-17 opposing SpaceX’s request.
SpaceX is challenging the Air Force’s October 2018 decision to award Launch Service Agreements to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and United Launch Alliance.
Viasat received an Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity contract worth up to $90,000,000 from the U.S. Air Force to supply Link 16 handheld radios.
The Air Force plans to select two providers in 2020 for the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 procurement.
SpaceX contends that the Air Force awarded $2,300,000,000 in Launch Service Agreements to three launch providers while excluding SpaceX.
Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) was awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ceiling of $90,000,000 to provide handheld Link 16 radios to the United States Air Force.
Space Force planning teams have been working on new uniform designs, a Space Force logo, and a Space Force seal, and details were briefed to President Trump on 2020-01-15 by Gen. John Raymond, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett.