United States Space Force

The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It was established on 20 December 2019 and is part of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six armed forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States.

The United States Space Force has roots in the military space programs of the Air Force, Army, and Navy that began during the early Cold War. These forces first saw action in the Vietnam War and have been part of every major U.S. military operation since then, including the Gulf War, sometimes called the "first space war."

The idea of creating a United States Space Force was first seriously discussed during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Later, in the late 2010s, plans for the Space Force were revived because of advances in military space technology by Russia and China. This led to the official creation of the Space Force in 2019 during the first Trump Administration.

Today, the Space Force operates under the Department of the Air Force alongside the U.S. Air Force. It is led by the chief of space operations, and there are plans for it to become fully independent in the future.

Mission

The United States Space Force works to protect our country's interests in space. Its main job is to make sure the United States can move and operate freely in space, keep our space systems safe, and support important missions from space.

The Space Force has three main tasks: controlling space, supporting global missions, and making sure we can always get to space. It protects spacecraft from threats and helps other parts of the military by giving them information, communication, and navigation support. It also makes sure we can launch and keep our spacecraft safe from space junk so we can operate in space anytime, day or night.

History

Main article: History of the United States Space Force

The Defense Department enters space

After World War II, the Air Force began looking into the chances and risks of space. General Henry H. Arnold, leader of the Army Air Forces, asked General Bernard Schriever to find and create technologies that could help the new U.S. Air Force in future conflicts. The U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force each started their own space and rocket programs. The U.S. Air Force made the first military space group in the world in 1954, naming it the Western Development Division and putting General Schriever in charge.

The Army led the United States into space by launching the first American spacecraft, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. Space exploration stayed a job for the military until the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was made later that year. The military then shifted from doing their own space exploration to helping NASA, giving the agency its astronauts and space launch vehicles, while also helping with astronaut recovery and space launches from the Air Force's Eastern Range.

By the early 1960s, the Air Force was seen as the main military group for space, with the Army and Navy helping. Early military space work focused on making and using spacecraft for national goals, like weather, reconnaissance and surveillance, communications, and navigation. On August 18, 1961, the Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office launched the first CORONA reconnaissance mission, getting 3,000 feet of film from space and showing images of 1.65 million square miles of the Soviet Union's land.

The Air Force worried about the Soviet Union's space forces and wanted a military human spaceflight program. General Curtis LeMay saw similarities between World War I aviation and 1960s space operations, thinking that space would also move from unarmed reconnaissance to combat. Although the Air Force made progress on projects like the X-20 spaceplane, Manned Orbiting Laboratory, and Blue Gemini, opposition from the Department of Defense stopped them from being used.

In November 1968, the Central Intelligence Agency reported that the Soviet Union had successfully tested a satellite destruction simulation as part of its anti-satellite weapons research. In response, the United States started Project SAINT to give anti-satellite ability in case of war with the Soviet Union, but the project was stopped early due to budget issues and leaks to The New York Times in 1962. Even so, the Air Force did make the Program 437 anti-satellite weapon system, which used nuclear Thor missiles to destroy enemy spacecraft.

Most military space forces were organized under the Air Force, but they were spread out among several different groups. Seeing the fast growth of space forces and the need to bring them together under one group, the Air Force made Air Force Space Command in 1982. This was followed by the United States Space Command in 1985, bringing together Air Force Space Command, Naval Space Command, and Army Space Command under one leader. These steps, along with President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, led to a new rise in military space operations in the 1980s.

Space forces were first used in combat during the Vietnam War, with Air Force weather and communications spacecraft helping ground, sea, and air operations. During Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, satellite communications were used for the first time to give commands, while Operation El Dorado Canyon and Operation Just Cause were the first times that big U.S. forces used information from space-based intelligence systems.

The Persian Gulf War was the first time that military space forces were used fully. Over sixty spacecraft gave 90% of the communications and command for a big group of 500,000 troops, weather help for leaders, warning of Iraqi Scud missile launches, and satellite navigation for air and land forces moving across a dry, open land. The big role space forces played helped the Coalition win easily and led people to call the Persian Gulf War "the first Space War."

U.S. space forces helped all U.S. military actions in the 1990s, and Operation Allied Force was the first time that Global Positioning System-aided weapons were used in fighting, starting a new time of very exact bombing. After the September 11 attacks, U.S. space forces got ready to help with the Global War on Terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Inherent Resolve.

Path to a separate space service

The idea of a separate service for space started in the 1960s. Military space activities were briefly brought together under the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1958, loosely grouping space activities under one group. The Air Force, Army, and Navy worried it would become a "fourth service" for space, but control went back to the services.

The first direct call for a U.S. Space Force came in 1982, before Air Force Space Command was made or the Strategic Defense Initiative was talked about publicly. As part of a report suggesting faster U.S. space-based laser weapon development, the Government Accountability Office suggested the U.S. Air Force be reorganized as the U.S. Aerospace Force or that an independent U.S. Space Force be made. In the end, a plan to change the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Aerospace Force and talk that President Ronald Reagan might make a U.S. Space Force made the Air Force speed up plans to make a space command inside the service.

After the Persian Gulf War, the Air Force and Defense Department said that "space power is now as important to the nation as land, sea, and air power." But many in Congress thought space was not getting enough attention and was only used to help air operations. In 1998, Senator Bob Smith said that if the Air Force didn't take space seriously, a Space Force should be made to make sure space got the resources it needed within the Defense Department, suggesting a Space Corps inside the Department of the Air Force as a step to a fully independent Space Force.

In 2000, Senator Smith led Congress to make a group to look at how national security space was organized and managed. The group, known as the 2001 Space Commission or the Rumsfeld Commission, gave its report in 2001. The Rumsfeld Commission warned of a "Space Pearl Harbor," remembering Japan's surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet in 1941. It was very critical of the Air Force's handling of space, with few people saying the Air Force would improve space or stop seeing it as just help for air operations. The biggest suggestion from the Rumsfeld Commission was to make a Space Corps inside the Department of the Air Force in the middle term, which would grow into a Department of the Space Force in the long term. The Rumsfeld Commission thought this change would happen between 2006 and 2011.

Air Force leaders did not like the Rumsfeld Commission's ideas at all. The next day after the report was made public, Air Force chief of staff General Michael E. Ryan said an independent Space Force or Corps was not needed for at least another 50 years. General Ryan said this again over the next year, saying a Space Force should only be thought about once space operations went beyond Earth's orbit. Even though the Air Force didn't like the idea of a Space Corps or Space Force, they did some of the suggestions by moving the Space and Missile Systems Center from Air Force Materiel Command to Air Force Space Command and making the National Security Space Institute. In the end, the Rumsfeld Commission's ideas were not done because after the September 11 attacks, the focus was on counterterrorism, stopping plans for a Space Corps inside the Department of the Air Force or a fully independent Space Force by 2011.

While the United States focused on counterterrorism, the Russian Armed Forces and Chinese People's Liberation Army saw the military benefits from space and how much the United States depended on its space forces. In the 2000s, Russian and Chinese space and anti-space abilities grew. In 2001, the Russian Space Forces were made again as an independent group and in 2007, China did a destructive anti-satellite missile test, causing the biggest space debris event in history. After the Chinese test, Congress asked the Allard Commission to look again at the Defense Department's space organization and management. The Allard Commission said the United States depended more on space, but not much had been done to make it safer. Like the 2001 Rumsfeld Commission, the 2008 Allard Commission suggested making a Space Corps inside the Department of the Air Force or a separate Department of the Space Force to bring together national security space.

It took until 2017 for Congress to act on the Rumsfeld and Allard commissions' ideas to make a Space Corps inside the Department of the Air Force. Representatives Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper showed a plan to make a Space Corps inside the Department of the Air Force, but it got a lot of pushback from the Air Force and Defense Department and failed in the Senate. However, the plan was brought back in 2018 when President Donald Trump said he supported making a Space Force and told the Defense Department to stop opposing it and make plans for it. The Trump Administration's plan for the U.S. Space Force was given in Space Policy Directive-4, first organizing the U.S. Space Force as part of the Department of the Air Force, but with plans to build a separate Department of the Space Force later. In 2019, Congress passed a law to make the U.S. Space Force a military service under the Department of the Air Force. On December 20, 2019, the National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law and the U.S. Space Force was made as the sixth armed service, following the Rumsfeld and Allard commissions' ideas to make a Space Corps inside the Department of the Air Force, but still not making a separate Department of the Space Force.

The sixth service

When the U.S. Space Force was made on December 20, 2019, General Jay Raymond, leader of U.S. Space Command and Air Force Space Command, became its first member and chief of space operations. Air Force Space Command was quickly changed to United States Space Force, but the command and its 16,000 Airmen were still technically part of the Air Force. On April 3, 2020, Chief Master Sergeant Roger A. Towberman became the Space Force's second member and its first senior enlisted leader. The service got its first new second lieutenants when 86 members of the U.S. Air Force Academy class of 2020 became Space Force members on April 18, 2020. Air Force space operators started becoming Space Force members in September 2020, and the service got its first astronaut when Colonel Michael S. Hopkins swore into the Space Force on the International Space Station on December 18, 2020.

The Space Force also began building its culture and identity, but it had some public relations problems because people thought it was linked to science fiction and to President Trump. The Space Force used the Army and Air Force's OCP Uniform with blue stitching and a full-color U.S. flag, which led to jokes about fighting on the forest moon of Endor from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, while its special service dress uniform was compared to uniforms from Battlestar Galactica or Starfleet from Star Trek. The Space Force said its camouflage combat uniform was right because space operators go to fight zones on Earth with the rest of the joint force and it saved money, but it didn't say much about its service dress uniform, which General Raymond called "futuristic-looking." The Space Force's seal and delta insignia were wrongly said to be copied from Star Trek's Starfleet logo, even though they were first used as a space symbol by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division in 1962, four years before Star Trek first aired on TV in 1966. Star Trek graphic designer Michael Okuda said Starfleet's logo was chosen to honor Air Force Space Command, the Space Force's direct predecessor.

The service also chose the title "Guardian" to represent its people, like Soldier and Airman. The word "Guardian" has a long history in Air Force Space Command, being part of its motto: "Guardians of the High Frontier." The Space Force also took Semper Supra as its official motto and showed its service song, which has the same name. There was a big debate about whether the Space Force's ranks would be like the Army, like the Air Force and Marine Corps, or like the Navy, with Congressman Dan Crenshaw suggesting an amendment to make the Space Force follow the Navy's rank structure. In the end, the amendment failed and the Space Force used an Air Force/Army/Marine Corps-based rank system.

The Space Force started officially adding former Air Force Space Command units in 2020 and 2021, making field commands to be like the Air Force's major commands. It also brought together Air Force wings and groups into mission deltas, a group about the size of an Army Brigade Combat Team or Air Force expeditionary wing, and space base deltas (briefly called garrisons), like an Army garrison or Air Force air base wing. It also started changing former Air Force bases and stations to Space Force bases and stations, beginning with Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It also made component field commands to be Space Force parts at the unified combatant commands, taking space component responsibility from the U.S. Air Force.

One big reason the Space Force was made was to bring together space forces from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy. In 2020, the Space Training and Readiness Delta (Provisional) was made to start Space Training and Readiness Command and bring together Air Force space units from Air Combat Command and Air Education and Training Command, while Space Systems Command brought together space buying activities from Air Force Materiel Command, though it didn't include space research and development done by the Air Force Research Laboratory. The Space Force also started getting space people from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps. In 2022, the Naval Satellite Operations Center and Army's Satellite Operations Brigade moved to the Space Force, putting satellite communications under one service for the first time in history. In 2023, it took over the Army's Joint Tactical Ground Station, putting all space-based missile warning under the Space Force.

The Space Force's first big combat action was less than a month after it was made, giving missile warning when Iran attacked U.S. troops at Al Asad Airbase on January 7, 2020. In 2021, Russia did an anti-satellite weapons test, destroying Kosmos 1408 and putting the International Space Station at risk. During the conflict between Iran and Israel in 2024, the Space Force gave missile warning for Iranian attacks on Israel in April 2024 and October 2024. It also planned for Iranian attacks before the U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear places in June 2025. The Space Force is helping with the Israeli–U.S. war against Iran in 2026 by helping with communications, targeting, and navigation.

Organization

Main articles: Structure of the United States Space Force and List of active duty United States Space Force general officers

The Space Force is organized into a headquarters staff that leads and guides the force. It also has field commands that organize, train, and prepare its members, called Guardians. There are deltas that support these commands and specialize in different missions. Squadrons focus on areas like getting new equipment, working in cyberspace, engineering, gathering information, and operating in space.

The Space Force has a clear structure of military units:

• a section has two or more guardians, also called an "element" in basic training
• a flight includes individual guardians or sections
• two or more flights make up a squadron (led by a major or lieutenant colonel) — the smallest command level, usually numbered and named by function
• two or more squadrons form a delta (led by a colonel); there are three types of deltas:
  • mission delta handles all tasks for the service
  • space base delta takes care of support at Space Force bases
  • space launch delta handles both base support and launching missions at its Space Force base
• field commands (led by major general or lieutenant general) organize, train, and prepare thousands of guardians worldwide; they are grouped by mission, such as Space Training and Readiness Command, and report directly to headquarters at the Pentagon
  • service component field commands (led by a colonel or brigadier general) connect Space Force abilities with other military branches and commands, acting as a link between the Space Force and the larger military structure; they are organized under the command they support

Headquarters Space Force

At the headquarters level, the Space Force is led by the chief of space operations, a four-star general. This leader reports to the secretary of the Air Force and gives military advice to leaders of the Department of Defense and the White House. The Air Force and Space Force together make up the Department of the Air Force, similar to how the Navy and Marine Corps form the Department of the Navy.

Field commands, Space Force elements, and direct reporting units

The Space Force has three field commands (FLDCOM) designed for specific jobs, helping to organize, train, and prepare Guardians. Component field commands (C-FLDCOM) help connect space forces with plans and current operations in unified combatant commands. Direct reporting units (DRU) are centers for new ideas and deep knowledge about special topics in the Space Force.

Bases

Main article: List of United States Space Force installations

While the Space Force's headquarters is in Washington, D.C., the rest of the service is located across the United States and other countries. As of 2024, it operates in 18 states and territories with 46 bases and installations.

Buckley SFB

Peterson SFB
Schriever SFB
Cheyenne Mountain SFS

Cape Cod SFS

Cavalier SFS

Los Angeles AFB

New Boston SFS

Patrick SFB
Cape Canaveral SFS

Vandenberg SFB

Clear SFS

Kaʻena Point SFS

Maui SFS

Pituffik SB

Department of the Space Force and Army space consolidation

Department of the Space Force

The United States Space Force is currently part of the Department of the Air Force. This setup is meant to be a temporary step before it becomes fully independent. In 2019, a policy called Space Policy Directive-4 said the Space Force should start under the Department of the Air Force and later become its own department. Leaders have talked about renaming the Department of the Air Force to include space, but this hasn’t happened yet.

Consolidating Army space activities

Main articles: United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command, 1st Space Brigade, and 100th Missile Defense Brigade

When the Space Force began in 2019, it was supposed to bring together all space forces from the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Navy and Air Force shared their space assets, but the Army was more hesitant. The Army shared some of its satellite and missile warning tools, but there are still discussions about moving more units, like the 1st Space Brigade and 100th Missile Defense Brigade, to the Space Force. Some groups have suggested moving all of the Army’s space and missile defense command to the Space Force.

Relationships with other space organizations

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Main articles: NASA and List of United States Space Force astronauts

The U.S. Space Force works closely with NASA for space missions. The Space Force's earlier parts in the Air Force, Navy, and Army helped NASA with its first rockets and many of its astronauts. The Space Force manages NASA launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Sometimes, NASA helps with big Space Force launches from Kennedy Space Center. The Space Force supports NASA's missions by providing safety checks for launches and watching for dangers to the International Space Station and other spacecraft with people on board. They also work together on knowing more about space and protecting Earth from objects from space. Some Space Force members are also NASA astronauts.

National Reconnaissance Office

Main article: National Reconnaissance Office

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is part of the Department of Defense and works on secret satellites for gathering information. The Space Force helps launch these satellites and makes up 40% of the NRO's team. Some ideas suggest combining the NRO with the Space Force to better organize space security efforts. The Space Force's Space Systems Command works with the NRO on launching important government satellites. The NRO helps the Space Force by giving important information about what is happening in space.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Main article: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Space Force and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) work together to operate weather satellites for the military. NOAA's Office of Space Commerce is in charge of tracking objects in space and managing space traffic for civilian use. This change happened because there are now many commercial spacecraft, and it is similar to how the Federal Aviation Administration manages air traffic instead of the U.S. Air Force.

Personnel and culture

Symbols

The delta symbol

Main articles: Space Force Delta and Seal of the United States Space Force

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists discovered ways to make space travel possible. Since then, a special shape called the delta has been used to show airplanes, missiles, or arrows. In 1940, a group of soldiers used the delta on their symbol, and it is still used today.

After World War II, the delta started being used in space programs. In 1962, a military space group used the delta to show their move into space and the vehicles they used to launch satellites. This delta became part of the U.S. Space Force’s seal and logo in 2020.

Guardians

Members of the Space Force are called Guardians, just like members of the U.S. Marine Corps are called Marines. This name comes from an old motto used by a space group. Before 2020, Space Force members were called space professionals.

Semper Supra

The Space Force’s motto is Semper Supra, meaning “Always Above.” It is similar to mottos used by other groups.

Specialties and badges

Main articles: List of United States Space Force astronauts and Badges of the United States Space Force

Space operators are the largest group in the Space Force. They plan and lead space missions. They learn special skills to work in space.

The Space Force has two astronauts who work with NASA. They help with space missions and give advice to the government.

Intelligence officers help the Space Force understand what other countries are doing in space. They work with other experts to gather information.

Cyberspace effects officers work with computers and satellite systems. They learn special training to protect and use these systems.

Engineers and managers in the Space Force help build and manage space tools and systems.

Spacepower disciplines

The U.S. Space Force has seven main areas of work:

1. Orbital warfare: Knowing how to move in space and protect U.S. space tools.
2. Space electromagnetic warfare: Using radio waves and other signals to keep our space tools safe.
3. Space battle management: Making decisions to protect space missions.
4. Space access and sustainment: Keeping space missions running.
5. Military intelligence: Gathering information to protect space.
6. Engineering and acquisition: Building the best space tools.
7. Cyber operations: Protecting computer networks that space tools use.

Rank structure

Officers

Officers lead the Space Force. They can join by going to a special school, joining a college program, or attending a training school.

The best way to become an officer is to go to the U.S. Air Force Academy. About 10% of each class becomes Space Force officers.

Enlisted

Enlisted members help with operations. They go through basic training, which is the same as for the Air Force but with extra Space Force learning.

In May 2022, the Space Force started its own basic training to teach new members about the Space Force.

Enlisted members can earn degrees and take special classes to learn more skills.

The Space Force’s symbols for enlisted ranks show shapes that represent space and the skills needed.

Uniforms

Main article: Uniforms of the United States Space Force

The Space Force is making its own uniforms. Until then, members wear Air Force uniforms but with Space Force symbols.

The main uniform is blue and gray, showing the vastness of space. A special physical training uniform is being made and will be ready soon.

Space Force cadets at the Air Force Academy wear the same uniform as Air Force cadets but with a special blue and white sash.

Awards and decorations

Main article: Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force

Ribbons for the proposed Guardian of the Year Ribbon

The Space Force and Air Force share the same awards and decorations.

In November 2020, the Air Force changed some award names to include “Air and Space” instead of “Air Force.”

The Space Force is working on creating its own Good Conduct Medal for enlisted members. Congress is also talking about changing another award to include the Space Force.

Decorations

Unit awards

Campaign, expeditionary, and service awards

Spacecraft and space systems

Modernization and budget

• *The 2026 RDT&E request includes $13.5 billion in mandatory funding proposed through reconciliation, significantly inflating this category compared to previous years.
• †The 2026 Total represents the combined baseline and reconciliation request (~$40 billion). The baseline appropriation request alone is approximately $26.3 billion.

Even though it is new, the U.S. Space Force is working hard to update its tools. The Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) will help watch objects in geosynchronous orbit from three places: one in the United States, one in the Indo-Pacific, and one in Europe.

Oracle, a spacecraft made by the Air Force Research Laboratory for the Space Force, will show new technologies needed to keep track of objects between Earth and the Moon. The spacecraft will go to a special spot between Earth and the Moon to watch and follow objects there. Oracle will help NASA’s Artemis program as it goes back to the Moon and will also watch objects that might come close to Earth to keep us safe.

Arachne is another project by the Air Force Research Laboratory for the Space Force. It is a key part of trying out new ideas for space-based solar power. This could provide power from space to places on Earth that are hard to reach with usual power supplies. Like how GPS started with the military and is now used by everyone, space-based solar power might become a common tool too.

The Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) will be part of the Space Force’s Global Positioning System. It will be in geosynchronous orbit to test new ways to protect and improve GPS signals for everyone.

The Space Force’s Rocket Cargo program aims to use space launch services to quickly move supplies for the military around the world. If it works, the Space Force’s Space Systems Command will make it a regular service. The United States Transportation Command would mainly use this to send up to 100 tons of cargo anywhere in the world.