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.
Sequoia will deliver 0.5-meter very high-resolution SAR data to the U.S. Air Force and to several additional international government and commercial customers.
Blue Origin filed a pre-award protest with the Government Accountability Office on 2019-08-12 challenging the Air Force’s RFP evaluation criteria.
Capella Space won a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract from the U.S. Air Force following its presentation at Air Force Space Pitch Day in San Francisco in early November.
The Air Force’s NSSL Phase 2 procurement aims to award two contracts expected to cover 30 or more medium- and heavy-lift satellite launches the Air Force plans to conduct between 2022 and 2026.
The Government Accountability Office sustained Blue Origin’s protest of the Air Force’s National Security Space Launch Phase 2 request for proposals on 2019-11-18.
The Air Force Space Command directed personnel on 2019-10-04 to stop using the term “space situational awareness” and instead use the term “space domain awareness”.
Lockheed Martin has delivered five of the six AEHF satellites procured by the U.S. Air Force.
The Air Force Space Command introduced the term Space Domain Awareness (SDA) as a replacement for Space Situational Awareness (SSA).
Maj. Gen. John Shaw's memo directs all space organizations in the Air Force to adopt the term SDA effective immediately.
In less than five months from its initial submission Launcher won the $1,500,000 Air Force SBIR contract.
Over two days in November the U.S. Air Force awarded $22,500,000 in SBIR funding to 30 companies.
The U.S. Air Force awarded Launcher $1,500,000 to accelerate development and testing of its E-2 rocket engine.
Launcher received the $1,500,000 as an Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract.
The Air Force funded critical space programs in its fiscal year 2020 budget that are new starts and nearly all classified.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein passed around a fact sheet on 2019-11-06 listing programs that would be delayed or canceled if a budget is not passed soon.
SpaceX launched the 60 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket at 9:56 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Air Force Space Command assumed responsibility for procuring commercial satcom services for the Department of Defense in December 2018 by congressional mandate.
Synaptech and Omitron were two of the firms invited on 2019-11-06 to apply for $3,000,000 Air Force SBIR phase two awards, with spelling corrected on 2019-11-08.
The Air Force awarded $750,000 SBIR phase two awards to 30 companies at the Space Pitch Day.
Air Force panels selected 15 companies to submit proposals for additional SBIR funding options of either $750,000 or $2,250,000.