History of the United States Space Force
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While the United States Space Force gained its independence on 20 December 2019, the history of the United States Space Force can be traced back to the beginnings of the military space program following the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945. Early military space development was begun within the United States Army Air Forces by General Henry H. Arnold, who identified space as a crucial military arena decades before the first spaceflight. Gaining its independence from the Army on 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force began development of military space and ballistic missile programs, while also competing with the United States Army and United States Navy for the space mission.
In 1954, the Air Force created its first space organization, the
The disjointed nature of military space forces across three military commands resulted in a reevaluation of space force organization within the Air Force. In 1979, the Space and Missile Systems Organization was split, forming the Space Division, and in 1980, Aerospace Defense Command was inactivated and its space forces transferred to Strategic Air Command. Resulting from internal and external pressures, including an effort by a congressman to rename the Air Force into the Aerospace Force and the possibility that President Reagan would direct the creation of a space force as a separate military branch, the Air Force directed the formation of
Following the end of the Gulf War, the Air Force came under intense congressional scrutiny by seeking to artificially merge its air and space operations into a seamless aerospace continuum, without regard for the differences between space and air. The 2001 Space Commission criticized the Air Force for institutionalizing the primacy of aviation pilots over space officers in Air Force Space Command, for stifling the development of an independent space culture, and not paying sufficient budgetary attention to space. The Space Commission recommended the formation of a Space Corps within the Air Force between 2007 and 2011, with an independent Space Force to be created at a later date. The
In response to advances by the Russian Space Forces and Chinese People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force and frustrated by the Air Force's focus on fighters at the expense of space, Democratic Representative Jim Cooper and Republican Representative Mike Rogers introduced a bipartisan proposal to establish the United States Space Corps in 2017. While the Space Corps proposal failed in the senate, in 2019, the United States Space Force was signed into law, with Air Force Space Command becoming the United States Space Force and elevated to become the sixth military service in the United States Armed Forces.
Early military space development (1945–1957)
Early American military space activities began immediately after the conclusion of the Second World War. On 20 June 1944, MW 18014, a German Heer A-4 ballistic missile launched from the Peenemünde Army Research Center became the first artificial object to cross the Kármán line, the boundary between air and space. The A-4 ballistic missile, more commonly known as the V-2, was used by the German Wehrmacht to launch long ranged attacks on Allied Forces cities on the Western Front, however its designer, Wernher von Braun, had aspirations to use it as a space launch vehicle, defecting to the United States at the end of the war. A number of former German scientists, along with significant amounts of research material, were covertly moved to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip, jumpstarting the space program.[1]
On 12 November 1945, General of the Army Henry H. Arnold, the commanding general of the United States Army Air Forces, sent a report to Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson emphasizing that the future United States Air Force would need to invest heavily in space and ballistic missile capabilities, rather than just focus on current aircraft. General Arnold received strong backing from Theodore von Kármán, the head of the Army Air Forces Scientific Advisory Group, and later United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. A 1946 study by Project RAND, directed by General Arnold and conducted by Louis Ridenour to determine the feasibility of a strategic reconnaissance satellite, identified nearly all future space mission areas, including intelligence, weather forecasting, satellite communications, and satellite navigation.[2][3]
The first instance of interservice rivalries in military space development occurred in 1946, when the United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Electronics Division proposed testing the feasibility of an artificial satellite, however it was unable to get Navy funding to attempt a launch, instead requesting a joint program with the War Department Aeronautical Board. General Carl Spaatz, commanding general of the Army Air Forces and later the first chief of staff of the Air Force and Major General Curtis LeMay, then Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development, denied the Navy's request, as their position was that military space was an extension of strategic air power and thus an Air Force mission. By 1948, the Navy had suspended its satellite program, focusing instead on rocketry. On 18 September 1947, the Army Air Forces gained their independence as the United States Air Force. While the Air Force still held claim that military space was its domain, the new service prioritized conventional strategic bombers and fighter aircraft over long-term ballistic missile and space development. [2]
Each of the three services continued to have independent ballistic missile and space development programs, with the
Despite the Air Force's sweeping cuts to research and development, in 1949, General Hoyt Vandenberg, the second chief of staff of the Air Force, commissioned two reports on which came to the conclusion that abdicating its missile and space activities could result in the Army and Navy taking over those responsibilities. In response, on 23 January 1950, the Air Force established a deputy chief of staff of the Air Force for research and on 1 February 1950 activated Air Research and Development Command (ARDC). Air Research and Development Command absorbed Air Materiel Command's engineering division and became responsible for Air Force missile and space programs. The outbreak of the Korean War led to the Air Force regaining a significant amount of funding, and in January 1951, ARDC began development on the Convair SM-65 Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, however ballistic missiles had a number of skeptics on the Air Staff, which led to reduced funding and slowed development. In April 1951, Project RAND released two studies on military satellite development, with one titled "Utility of a Satellite Vehicle for Reconnaissance" and the other "Inquiring into the Feasibility of Weather Reconnaissance from a Satellite Vehicle." The reports were enthusiastically received at Air Research and Development Command, which started a number of satellite design programs. In late 1953, ARDC assigned the satellite program the designation of Weapons Systems 117L (WS-117L), also known as the Advanced Reconnaissance System (ARS), beginning development at the Wright Air Development Center.[2]
In response to the cautious approach of Air Research and Development Command and delaying tactics by the Air Staff, assistant secretary of the Air Force for research and development
The Western Development Division pioneered the use of parallel development, increasing the cost of the program, but ensuring redundancies to speed development times. Its primary program was the Convair SM-65 Atlas ICBM, developing the Martin Marietta HGM-25A Titan I ICBM as a backup, in case of the failure of the Atlas. Ultimately both missiles were put into service. On 10 October 1955, responsibility for the development of military satellites, to include the Advanced Reconnaissance System, was transferred from the Wright Air Development Center to the Western Development Division.[4]
In August 1954, Congress authorized the government to begin development of a satellite to be launched for the International Geophysical Year. Each of the military services sought to compete to launch a satellite from their service for the competition, however the Department of Defense directed that it not detract from the Air Force Western Development Division's ballistic missile development program. The initially IGY scientific satellite was intended to establish the legal doctrine of "freedom of space," enabling spacecraft to fly over any country. The Army Ordnance Corps and Office of Naval Research jointly proposed Project Orbiter, which was led by Army Major General John Bruce Medaris and Army scientist Wernher von Braun. The Army was responsible for developing the booster, based on the PGM-19 Jupiter, while the Navy was responsible for the satellite, tracking facilities, and data analysis. The Naval Research Laboratory, however, proposed the single-service Project Vanguard, developing the Vanguard rocket and satellite, along with the Minitrack satellite tracking network. The Air Force Western Development Division initially declined to participate, focusing on military space programs rather than scientific endeavors, but was directed by the Department of Defense to put forward a proposal — an SM-65C Atlas booster with an Aerobee-Hi space probe. Ultimately, the Defense Department selected the Navy's Project Vanguard, and although it thought that the Western Development Divisions's proposal showed great promise, it did not want to interfere with the development of the Atlas ICBM.[2]
On 1 August 1957, the Western Development Division was redesignated as the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division (AFBMD). Two months later, on 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union beat the United States into space, launching Sputnik 1 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Sputnik greatly embarrassed the United States, which had the year prior prohibited any government officials to speak publicly about spaceflight. In February 1957, General Schriever, the senior space officer in the Air Force, was directed by the secretary of defense to not mention "space" in any of his speeches, after publicly discussing the importance of studying military offensive functions in space and declaring that the time is ripe for the Air Force to move into space. Immediately after Sputnik 1's launch, the gag order was rescinded.[2]
Post–Sputnik crisis and organizational reforms (1957–1961)
In the
Establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency
The Air Force used the launch of Sputnik 1 to argue that the entire national space program, both civil and military, should be organized under it. This was, in part, spurred by concern that congressional representatives were favoring the Army's space program, led by von Braun. In response, the Air Force led a public campaign to emphasize that space was a natural extension of its mission, coining the term "aerospace" to describe a single continuous sphere of operations from the Earth's atmosphere to outer space. The Air Force attempted to establish the Department of Astronautics on the Air Staff, announcing the decision on 10 December 1957, however Secretary of Defense Neil H. McElroy prohibited its creation, instead announcing on 20 December that the Defense Department would establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to unify the space programs of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Organizationally, the Air Force would represent space on the Air Staff through the assistant chief of staff of the Air Force for guided missiles, finally being permitted to create the Directorate of Advanced Technology to handle space responsibilities after the National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed by congress on 29 July 1958.[2]
On 24 January 1958, the Air Force Astronautics Development Program was submitted to the Defense Department, articulating the five major systems that the Air Force wanted to pursue in space: ballistic test and related systems, manned hypersonic research (to include the North American X-15), the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar orbital glider (to include reconnaissance, interceptor, and bomber variants), the WS-117L Advanced Reconnaissance System (to include a crewed military strategic space station), and the Lunex Project to put an Air Force base on the Moon.
The
ARPA's techniques were highly unsettling to leaders across all of the military services, as they directly dealt with subordinated service commands, bypassing the traditional chain of command. The agency had a complicated relationship with the Air Force, which sought to be the sole service for military space, however, ARPA consistently awarded it 80% of all military space programs and championed its program of putting a military man in space, awarding it development responsibility for crewed military spaceflight in February 1958. The Man in Space Soonest program was ultimately geared towards putting military astronauts on the Moon and returning them to Earth. The Army and Navy, without the sponsorship of ARPA, still held ambitions for crewed military spaceflight, with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency proposing Project Adam where an astronaut would be launched on a sub-orbital trajectory on a Juno II rocket, however it received no support, being liked to "about the same technical value as the circus stunt of shooting a young lady from a cannon" by NACA director Hugh Latimer Dryden and was outright rejected by the Defense Department. The Navy proposed Manned Earth Reconnaissance I, however it was considered technically infeasible. The Air Force decided to cooperate with ARPA in order to gain development responsibility, and ultimately operational responsibility for all military space programs. ARPA was the sole national space agency for much of 1958, and carried out presidentially directed civil space mission, such as the Pioneer program of lunar probes, with military resources such as Air Force Thor-Able and Army Juno II rockets.[2]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established on 29 July 1958, and was directed by President Eisenhower to become the United States' civil space agency. Eisenhower always intended to have parallel civil and military space programs, only temporarily putting civil space programs under ARPA. NASA was primarily formed from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and began operations on 1 October 1958. Its 7,000 NACA personnel and the Langley Research Center, Ames Research Center, Lewis Research Center (now John H. Glenn Research Center), the High-Speed Flight Station (now Armstrong Flight Research Center), and the Wallops Flight Facility from the aeronautical research agency. The bulk of NASA's space program, however, was absorbed from the Defense Department, specifically ARPA and the military services. The Navy' space program, mostly run for civil research, was given up willingly, with NASA absorbing Project Vanguard, including 400 Naval Research Laboratory personnel and its Minitrack space tracking network. The Air Force Ballistic Missile Division transferred its Man in Space Soonest program, becoming the core of Project Mercury, and the Pioneer program lunar probe missions. ARPA also transferred over responsibility for special engines, special components for space systems, Project Argus, satellite tracking and monitoring systems, satellite communication relay, metrological reporting, navigation aid systems, and the NOTS Program to get images of the far side of the Moon. The Army's space program, however, was considered by NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan, to be the most valuable source of space resources and was decimated by the transfer. Major General Medaris, commander of the Army Ordnance Missile Command, very publicly fought the transfer, but nearly the entirety of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, to include von Braun's Saturn I team at Redstone Arsenal (which would become the Marshall Space Flight Center) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were transferred to NASA, completely crushing any hope of an independent Army space program.[3][2]
Aside from NASA, the biggest winner of the transfer was the
Gaining the military space mission
In February 1959, the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force for plans performed an analysis that suggested that its weakness in space organization, operations, and research and development all stemmed from its early failure to develop a coordinated space program and that to become the dominant service in space it should demonstrate successful stewardship and push forward to create its own space program, rather than just request missions and roles from ARPA, while at the same time improving service relationships with ARPA and NASA. The Air Force executed an intensive lobbying campaign within Congress, the Defense Department, and NASA, relying heavily on its rationale that it was an Aerospace service and that the missions it intended to perform in space were a logical extension of its atmospheric responsibilities. In Spring 1959, the Air Force released twelve major military uses of space:
- Military reconnaissance satellites utilizing, optical, infrared, and electromagnetic instrumentation
- Satellites for weather observation
- Military communications satellites
- Satellites for electronic countermeasures
- Satellite aids for navigation
- Manned maintenance and resupply outer space vehicles
- Manned defensive outer space vehicles and bombardment satellites
- Manned lunar station
- Satellite defense system
- Manned detection, warning, and reconnaissance space vehicle
- Manned bombardment space vehicle or space base
- Target drone satellite
Five of these missions (photographic reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance, infrared reconnaissance, mapping and charting, and space environmental forecasting and observing) had received approval as Air Force General Operational Requirements and represented missions previously identified and analyzed by RAND. The Air Staff released an analysis on constraints that prohibited the Air Force from implementing its aerospace force policy, identifying NASA's responsibility for the scientific space area and ARPA's responsibility for the military space area as key issues. Specifically the Air Staff faulted ARPA for assigning system development to a service on the basis of existing capability, but without regard for existing or likely space mission and support roles. Rather, the Air Staff felt that ARPA should focus on policy decisions and leave project engineering to the lowest level at the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division. It also argued that the Air Force should be responsible for providing common interests items, such as space launch boosters and satellites, to NASA, enabling the civil agency to focus its budget and efforts entirely on scientific endeavors. This analysis was supported by General Schriever and the AFBMD, who found his command becoming overburdened with ARPA programs and NASA requirements. In April 1959, General Schriever testified before congress that that Air Force's responsibilities for strategic offensive and defensive missions would be, in part, conducted by ballistic missiles, satellites, and spacecraft. Furthermore, he testified that the Advanced Research Projects Agency should be dissolved, that the Director of Defense Research and Engineering should assume the role of providing policy guidance and service responsibility, and that space research and development control be returned to the military services.[2]
The Air Force's arguments for autonomy from ARPA were bolstered by the success of major Air Force Ballistic Missile Division programs, including the former elements of the WS-117L Advanced Reconnaissance System. The
One of ARPA's most consequential programs was the
The Air Force Ballistic Missile Division continued to provide significant support for NASA, constructing infrastructure for the space agency at Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, as well as providing Thor-Able boosters and launch support to the Pioneer program of lunar probes and Thor-Able and Thor-Delta boosters and launch support to the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (Tiros) weather observation satellites. The Air Force Ballistic Missile Division also supported the development of the Centaur high-energy stage, which it intended to use to support the cancelled Advent communications satellite project. Among the most important support the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division provided NASA was for Project Mercury, its first human spaceflight program. AFBMD provided Atlas LV-3B launch vehicles for orbital flights, launch support, and aerospace medical officers. Much of its aerospace medical knowledge was gained from medical personnel who had served with the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War and had defected to the United States. The world's first Department of Space Medicine was established at the United States Air Force School of Aviation Medicine (later renamed to School of Aerospace Medicine) in February 1949 by Hubertus Strughold, who coined the term space medicine. Air Force medical personnel would go on to conduct a variety of experiments on weightlessness.[2]
Although NASA was responsible for most crewed spaceflight, the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division continued with the development of the
Interservice rivalries over space persisted in 1959, with Army Major General Medaris testifying before Congress that the Air Force Ballistic Missile Agency and General Schriever had a long history of noncooperation with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, to which General Schriever submitted a long rebuttal, but the charge was not withdrawn by the Army. In April 1959, Admiral
On 30 December 1959, the Advance Research Projects Agency's status as the sole controlling entity of military space programs was brought to a close as it was retasked as an operating research and development agency under the Director of Defense Research and Development. Responsibilities for military space programs were returned to the individual services, with ARPA only tasked with a few advanced programs.[2]
On 1 May 1960, a Central Intelligence Agency Lockheed U-2 was shot down over the Soviet Union, limiting reconnaissance flights to the edges of the Soviet Union and sparking Congress to increase funding for space based reconnaissance such as Samos and MIDAS. On 10 June 1960, President Eisenhower directed secretary of defense Thomas S. Gates Jr. to reassess space-based intelligence requirements, concluding that Samos, the Corona program, and U-2 all represented national assets and that they should be organized under a civilian agency in the Defense Department, not a single military service. On 31 August 1960, secretary of the Air Force Dudley C. Sharp created the Office of Missile and Satellite Systems under the assistant secretary of the Air Force to coordinate Air Force, Central Intelligence Agency, Navy, and National Security Agency intelligence reconnaissance activities. On 6 September 1961, the Office of Missile and Satellite Systems became the National Reconnaissance Office, absorbing all military space reconnaissance programs, such as Samos and Corona. Only MIDAS and the Vela nuclear detonation detection satellites remained in the Air Force's satellite inventory.[2]
On 3 June 1960, the Air Force created the Aerospace Corporation to provide it with technical space competency as a federally funded research and development center, adjacent to the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division headquarters in Inglewood, California. By the end of its first year, the Aerospace Corporation had 1,700 employees and was responsible for 12 space programs. Aerospace would grow to provide general systems engineering and technical direction for every Air Force and Space Force missile and space program.[2]
Kennedy Administration and establishment of Air Force Systems Command
The election of John F. Kennedy to president of the United States put a renewed focus on the space program, both military and civil. President Kennedy appointed Jerome Wiesner to chair a committee to review the organization of military and civil space. The Wiesner Report criticize the fractionalized military space program, recommending that one agency or military service be made responsible for all military space, and stated that the Air Force was the logical choice, as it was already responsible for 90% of the support and resources for other space agencies and that the Air Force was the "principal resource for the development and operation of future space systems, except those of a purely scientific nature assigned by law to NASA." Shortly after taking office, secretary of defense Robert McNamara designated the Air Force as the executive agent for military space, assigning it responsibility for "research, development, test, and engineering of Department of Defense space development programs or projects," while still permitting each service to conduct preliminary research and asserted that operational assignment of each space system to a service would be done on a case-by-case basis.[2][3]
In early 1961, deputy secretary of defense Roswell Gilpatric contacted chief of staff of the Air Force General White and promised the Air Force major responsibility for the space mission if he "put his house in order." Specifically, he was referring to the split responsibility for research and development under Air Research and Development Command and procurement under Air Materiel Command. Secretary Gilpatric's views were informed by General Schriever, now commander of Air Research and Development Command, who had told him that the Air Force could not handle the military space mission unless one command held responsibility for research and development, system testing, and acquisition of space systems. General Schreiver held these views for a number of years, however the issue gained a pressing urgency by 1960, as Air Research and Development Command's Air Force Ballistic Missile Division and Air Materiel Command's Ballistic Missiles Center competed for resources and management focus as the demand for both space and missile systems became more pressing. In September 1960, General White authorized General Schriever to begin reorganization, keeping his space programs in Los Angeles, while moving ballistic missile functions to Norton Air Force Base, however General Schriever felt it was insufficient and he was authorized to form a planning task force. Colonel Otto Glasser, later a lieutenant general, developed the reorganization plan resulting in the reorganization of Air Research and Development Command as Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) on 1 April 1961, giving the organization responsibility for all research, development and acquisition of aerospace and missile systems. On the same day Air Materiel Command was reorganized as Air Force Logistics Command, removing its production functions and responsible for maintenance and supply only. Lieutenant General Schriever, commander of Air Research and Development Command, was promoted to general and made the first commander of Air Force Systems Command.[2][3]
Air Force Systems Command was organized into four subordinate divisions: the
The Space Systems Division quickly established itself, and on 20 March 1961 the Gardner Report was submitted to General Schreiver. In it, Trevor Gardner stated that the United States could not overtake the Soviet Union in space for three to five years without a significant increase in space investment by the Defense Department. As well, he stated that the line between military and civil space would need to be crossed in a comprehensive, lunar landing program that would land astronauts on the Moon between 1967 and 1970 and that such an effort would produce important technologies, industries, and lessons learned for both military and civil space programs.[2][3]
On 12 April 1961, Soviet Air Forces cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter space, launching on the spacecraft Vostok 1. This sparked Secretary MacNamara to direct Herbert York, director of defense research and development, and secretary of the Air Force Eugene M. Zuckert to assess the national space programs in terms of defense interests, specifically considering the findings of the Gardner Report. The task force study took place at the Space Systems Division and was led by Major General Joseph R. Holzapple, Air Force Systems Command assistant deputy commander for aerospace systems. The Holzapple Report, submitted to the secretary of defense on 1 May 1961, called for a NASA-led lunar landing initiative, with significant Air Force support.[2]
Space forces in the Cold War (1961–1982)
The Air Force being designated the Defense Department executive agent for space and the creation of the Space Systems Division in 1961 solidified the service's status as the dominant military space power. In May 1961, acting in part on the Holzapple Report, the Kennedy Administration assigned NASA the responsibility for the lunar landing mission, however the Space Systems Division was expected to continue to provide personnel, launch vehicles, and ground support to the civil space agency.[2]
In 1961, major space programs such as Samos and Spacetrack were achieving operational capability, while developmental programs such as MIDAS and the Project SAINT satellite inspector received additional funding. This was in large part due to President Kennedy's push for an integrated national space program, rather than creating strict silos between military space and NASA, and in Spring 1961, the Air Force was responsible for 90% of military space efforts.[2]
Crewed military spaceflight programs and military support to NASA
Alarmed by the orbital flights of Soviet Air Forces cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1 and Gherman Titov in Vostok 2, Air Force Systems Command redoubled its push for a crewed military space program, with chief of Staff of the Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay drawing parallels between airpower during the First World War and spacepower in the early-1960s. General LeMay remarked how the initial use of airplanes in the First World War moved from peaceful, chivalric, unarmed reconnaissance flights to combat efforts designed to deny the enemy air superiority, and that it would be naïve to believe that the same trends were not expected to be seen and prepared for in space. This view soon became prevailing within the defense establishment, and the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar's orbital flight program was accelerated, using the Titan IIIC launch vehicle rather than the Titan II GLV[2]
On 21 September 1961, the Air Force's first formal space plan was completed, calling for an aggressive military space program. Specifically, it recommended continuing the Discoverer/Corona program, MIDAS, Samos, and Blue Scout research vehicle at their present pace, while accelerating efforts to develop orbital weapons, and an anti-satellite and anti-missile defense system. NASA and the Space Systems Division continued to closely cooperate on space launch, with the Space Systems Division developing the Titan IIIC space launch vehicle, which was capable of launching payloads up to 25,000 pounds into orbit. The Space Systems Division and NASA also closely cooperated on the Apollo Program, jointly selecting the launch location at Cape Canaveral. An agreement between NASA Administrator James E. Webb and Deputy Defense Secretary Roswell Gilpatric made NASA responsible for the costs of the lunar program, while the Space Systems Division would serve as the range manager. On 24 February 1962, the Department of Defense designated the Air Force as the executive agent for NASA support.[2]
The Space Systems Division provided close support to NASA's Project Mercury, providing three of the Mercury Seven astronauts, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 5 and Launch Complex 14, RM-90 Blue Scout II and Atlas LV-3B launch vehicles, and United States Air Force Pararescue recovery forces. The Space Systems Division was planning to provide similar support to Project Gemini and was supporting 14 NASA programs with 96 research and development officers attached. In April 1962, the position of deputy to the commander of Air Force Systems Command for Manned Space Flight was established at NASA Headquarters, consisting of personnel from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force.[2]
On 11 June 1962, The New York Times broke the story about the SAINT program, creating a political firestorm by claiming that the Air Force was intent on weaponizing space. The public blowback was tremendous, resulting in greater scrutiny from the Defense Department and the White House on military space programs. In the 1962 Air Force Space Plan request, the only programs that received significant funding were the Military Orbital Development System (MODS) space station, Blue Gemini experimentation program, MIDAS, SAINT, the X-20 Dyna-Soar, and Titan III launch vehicle. The MODS experimental space station was to be launched on a Titan IIIC booster and the Blue Gemini program focused specifically on testing rendezvous, docking, and personnel transfer functions, however there were concerns that Blue Gemini could endanger the X-20 Dyna-Soar. Both MODS and Blue Gemini were cancelled by Defense Secretary McNamara, instead requiring the Space Systems Division to work through NASA's Project Gemini.
Project Gemini was managed by NASA, but had a joint Gemini Program Planning Board co-chaired by NASA's associate administrator and the assistant secretary of the Air Force for research and development. Like in Project Mercury, the Space Systems Division provided significant support, including nine of the sixteen Gemini astronauts, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 19, Atlas-Agena and Titan II GLV launch vehicles, and United States Air Force Pararescue recovery forces.[2]
Even before the Apollo Program started, in 1963 both NASA and the Space Systems Division were contemplating future space programs, with NASA focusing on the
General Schriever's retirement in 1966 also marked a change in Air Force space organization. His successor, General
Deployment of military satellite communications systems
The
In July 1958, the Advanced Research Projects Agency assigned the Army Signal Corps
With Project Advent's failure, the Defense Department turned to the Air Force-aligned the Aerospace Corporation, which had been developing two alternatives. In Summer 1962, the Space Systems Division got authorization to proceed with the development of the Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program (IDCSP) to provided communications in the super high frequency (SHF) bandwidth. Unlike in Project Advent, the Space Systems Division would have complete control over the spacecraft and booster, with the Army Satellite Communications Agency only had authority over the ground segment, with the Defense Communications Agency responsible for unify the Army and Air Force Space Systems Division efforts. The Space Systems Division also received authorization to develop a second system, the Advanced Defense Communications Satellite Program (ADCSP), at the same time. IDCSP development proved difficult, intended to be launched on Atlas-Agena boosters, due to intensive studies by the Defense Department and Secretary McNamara question if the military needed to operate its own communications satellites, rather than lease bandwidth from the COMSAT corporation. On 15 July 1964, after failed negotiations with COMSAT and concerns about hosting military payloads on civil satellites that could be used by foreign countries, Secretary McNamara opted to push forward with the more secure and reliable military satellite communications system. The development of the Titan IIIC prompted a change from medium earth orbits to near-synchronous orbits for the IDCSP.[2]
The IDSCP was originally intended to just be an experimentation program, but was so successful that it became an operational satellite constellation. The first seven satellites were launched on 16 June 1966 by the Space Systems Division Titan IIIC. The second launch, of eight IDSCP satellites, were launched on 26 August 1966, however a critical failure resulted in the loss of the launch vehicle and payloads. The third launch occurred on 18 January 1967, placing eight satellites into orbit, with a 1 July 1967 launch, the first by SAMSO, placing three more satellites into orbit. This launch also placed into orbit a number of test satellites, including the Navy's DODGE gravity gradient experiment, the DATS satellite, and Lincoln Experimental Satellite-5. The final eight satellites were launched into orbit on 13 June 1968, creating a constellation of 26 satellite when the Defense Communications Agency declared the IDCSP system operation al changed its name to the Initial Defense Satellite Communications System (IDSCS).[2]
By mid-1968, 36 fixed and mobile ground terminals, the responsibility of the Army, completed the satellite communications system. Originally used for the Army Signal Corps' Project Advent and later co-opted for NASA's Syncom satellite program, two fixed AN/FSC-9 ground terminals, one located at Camp Roberts, California and the other at Fort Dix began relaying IDSCS satellite data. Mobile terminals consisted of seven AN/TSC-54 terminals, thirteen AN/MSC-46 terminals, and six ship-based terminals. Ground terminal locations included Colorado, West Germany, Ethiopia, Hawaii, Guam, Australia, South Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines, South Vietnam, and Thailand. In 1967 the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization demonstrated the capability of the IDSCP at the 21st Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association convention in Washington D.C., connecting Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown directly with the Seventh Air Force commander in South Vietnam, General William W. Momyer. The Initial Defense Communications System later became known as the Defense Satellite Communications System Phase I (DSCS I). DSCS I became known for its reliability, and by 1971, fifteen of the twenty-six initial satellites, intended purely as an experiment, remained operational. By mid-1976, three continued to function, several years after their intended shutoff date. the DSCS I constellation provided the Defense Communications Agency service for nearly 10 years and served as the basic design for the British Armed Forces' Skynet 1 satellites, launched by SAMSO Thor-Delta rockets in 1969, and NATO's satellite communications, also launched by a SAMSO Thor-Delta rocket in 1970.[2]
Although DSCS I was superior to radio or cable communications, it remained limited in terms of channel capacity, user access, and overall coverage. Work began on the Defense Satellite Communications System Phase II (DSCS II) to satisfy the original intent of Project Advent and overcome these difficulties. Preliminary work began at the Space Systems Division in 1964 as the Advanced Defense Communications Satellite Program, with the Defense Communications Agency awarding six concept study contracts in 1965, with procurement authorized in June 1968. The Space and Missile Systems Organization planned for a constellation of four satellites in geosynchronous orbit (one over the Indian Ocean, one over the Eastern Pacific Ocean, one over the Western Pacific Ocean, and one over the Atlantic Ocean), with two spare spacecraft. The Defense Communications Agency maintained overall control of the program, with the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization responsible for the spacecraft, Titan IIIC boosters, and operations from the Air Force Satellite Control Facility, while the Army Signal Corps was responsible for the ground-segment.[2]
DSCS II was a major step forward in communications satellite design, with both broad area and narrow beam coverage. The first two satellites were launched from a Titan IIIC on 2 November 1971, placing one over the Atlantic Ocean and one over the Pacific Ocean. After redesigning due to failures in the initial tranche, the second set of satellites was launched on 13 December 1973 and the constellation was declared operational by the Defense Communications Agency in February 1974 with only two satellites on orbit. The third launch on 20 May 1975 had an anomaly in the Titan IIIC's guidance system which resulted in the spacecraft reentering the atmosphere and the DSCS II satellites were lost. The constellation was later completed, and by the 1980s DSCS II provided strategic communications through 46 ground terminals, the Diplomatic Telecommunications Service' 52 terminals, and the Ground Mobile Forces 31 tactical terminals. The last DSCS II satellite was decommissioned on 13 December 1993, however design of the Defense Satellite Communications System Phase III (DSCS III) began in 1974.[2]
The Space Systems Division, and later Space and Missile Systems Organization, also provided support to a number of experimental satellites, predominantly the Lincoln Experimental Satellite series, which would often piggyback on military launch missions. SAMSO also contracted Hughes Aircraft Company for the TACSAT communications satellite, which provided both UHF and SHF communications. However, due to funding restrictions it was limited to a single spacecraft and launched on a Titan IIIC from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station on 9 February 1969. TACSAT supported the Apollo 9 recovery efforts, directly linking the USS Guadalcanal with the White House. The Navy, impressed by the success of TACSAT, began development with SAMSO on the Fleet Satellite Communications System (FLTSATCOM). While the Navy provided funding and ground terminals, SAMSO served as the Navy's agent in spacecraft areas and received a portion of the spacecraft's capabilities, forming the Air Force Satellite Communications System (AFSATCOM), which was used to provide global communications for Single Integrated Operations Plan nuclear forces.[2]
Deployment of military weather observation satellite systems
The idea of
NASA's Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) was designed to provide weather observation data to the United States Weather Bureau, launching TIROS-1 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17 on a Air Force Ballistic Missile Division Thor-Able booster on 1 April 1960. With the success of TIROS, the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, and NASA convened to develop a single weather system that would satisfy the needs of both civilian and military users, agreeing to the National Operational Meteorological Satellite System in April 1961. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly developed the Nimbus program second-generation weather satellites for meteorological research and science.[2]
Ultimately, in 1963 the Aerospace Corporation recommended that the military develop its own weather satellite system. The Space Systems Division began development of the Defense Satellite Applications Program (DSAP), however because DSAP was intended to provide direct support to Strategic Air Command and the National Reconnaissance Office, its existence remained classified until 17 April 1973 when it was decided by secretary of the Air Force John L. McLucas to use its weather data to support the Vietnam War [clarification needed] and prove declassified data to the Department of Commerce and scientific community. In December 1973, it was renamed the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP).[2]
Initial DMSP satellites transmitted data to Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington and Loring Air Force Base, Maine, from there sent to the Air Force Global Weather Center at Offutt Air Force Base. Tactical data was passed to mission planner in Vietnam, while auroral data was given to the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for scientific research. The fifth block of DMSP satellites were launched on Thor-Burner rockets into polar orbits and in 1973 it became a tri-service program, adding Army and Navy participation.[2]
The DMSP was operated by Strategic Air Command's 4000th Support Group beginning on 1 February 1963. The 4000th Support Group was reassigned to SAC's 1st Strategic Aerospace Division on 1 January 1966, being renamed the 4000th Aerospace Application Group on 1 January 1973 and then the 4000th Satellite Operations Group on 3 April 1981.[5]
Development of the Global Positioning System
Satellite navigation systems were based upon radio navigation systems such as LORAN, however terrestrial systems could only provide positioning in two-dimensions at limited ranges, while space-based systems could provide up to three-dimesons, plus velocity, anywhere on the Earth. On 13 April 1960, and Air Force Ballistic Missile Division Thor-Ablestar launched the Navy's first Transit navigation satellite into orbit. Transit was designed to provide 600 feet accuracy for naval ships and ballistic missile submarines, however it was too slow and intermittent to provide the precise requirements needed for high-speed aircraft and ground launched missiles.[2]
In 1963, the Aerospace Corporation prompted the Space Systems Division to begin work on Project 621B (Satellite System for Precise Navigation), which was intended to provide accurate, all-weather positioning data anywhere on Earth. At the same time, the Navy began work on Timation as a follow-on to Transit. The first Timation satellites were launched by the Space and Missile Systems Organization in 1967 and 1969. The Army also developed SECOR satellite system. In 1968, the Defense Department organized the Navigation Satellite Executive Committee as a tri-service committee to coordinate the various programs. In 1972, Air Force Colonel Bradford W. Parkinson worked to combine SAMSO's Project 621B and the Navy's Timation program and on 17 April 1973, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Clements unified them under the SAMSO-led Defense Navigation Satellite Development Program. The program adopted the Air Force's signal structure and frequencies and the Navy's orbital deployment plan and usage of atomic clocks. On 2 May 1974, the program was renamed the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS).[2]
Deployment of space-based missile warning systems
Generally considered to be the most important military space program, national reconnaissance programs were assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office since 1961, however strategic missile warning programs remained within the military services, specifically the Air Force. The Space Systems Division managed two of these programs: the Missile Defense Alarm System (MIDAS) satellites, which used infrared sensors to detect missile or rocket launches, and Vela Hotel satellites, which detected atmospheric and outer space nuclear detonations to monitor compliance with the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Both of these mission sets were predicted in the 1946 Project RAND report.[2]
Unlike Vela Hotel, MIDAS experienced a number of problems due to its complexities. In Fall 1960, General
MIDAS was replaced by the
Space defense operations
Following the debate between the Air Force and Navy over operational control of the
The
Space surveillance operations were conducted by the
Air Defense Command's
The 10th Aerospace Defense Group operated Weapon System 437, a nuclear anti-satellite Thor DSV-2 missile system.[7]
In recognition of the importance of space defense, Air Defense Command was redesignated as Aerospace Defense Command on 15 January 1968 and the 9th Aerospace Defense Division was inactivated and replaced by the Fourteenth Aerospace Force on 1 July 1968.[8]
Space launch fleet and ground support infrastructure
The Space Systems Division's monopoly in space launch vehicles was, in large part, the prime reason for its primacy in the space domain. Early ballistic missiles, such as the
The
The General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas space launch vehicle was more powerful than the Thor and primarily launched heavier payloads from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Eastern Test Range. The SM-65B Atlas, which was also a prototype for the operational missile, performed its first space launch. A number of space launch vehicles were based on the SM-65D Atlas, including the Atlas SLV-3, which had the RM-81 Agena and Centaur upper stages, the Atlas LV-3B, which launched the final four Project Mercury spaceflights, Atlas-Agena, Atlas-Able, and Atlas-Centaur. Decommissioned SM-65E Atlas and SM-65F Atlas missiles were converted to the Atlas E/F launch vehicle. Other launch vehicles derived from the original SM-65 missile included the Atlas G, Atlas H, Atlas I, Atlas II, Atlas III, and Atlas V.[2]
While the Thor and Atlas were considered medium boosters, the Martin Titan IIIC was considered a heavy booster and was the first rocket with the power to launch payloads into geosynchronous orbit. Its first launch was on 18 June 1965. The Titan IIIC had two other variants, including the Titan IIIB, which was originally designed to support the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, and Titan IIID. The Titan IIIE was used by NASA for interplanetary missions and the Titan IIIA was an early rocket in the family. The success of the Titan IIIC prompted some to call it the "DC-3 of the Space Age"[2]
The Space Systems Division's primary launch sites were
The second effort, the
This enhanced focus on space resulted in a number of organizational changes, including the consolidation of the Eastern and Western Test Ranges under Air Force Systems Command's National Range Division in January 1964, the transfer of the Pacific Missile Range from the Navy to the Air Force and the Air Force's assumption of responsibility for the satellite tracking network in 1963. The National Range Division, headquartered at
Space forces in the Vietnam War
The first combat employment of space forces occurred during the Vietnam War. In particular, weather and communications satellite support was considered critical by ground and air commanders.[2]
The Defense Meteorological Support Program, in particular, proved absolutely critical to the Seventh Air Force, which relied upon cloud-free environments to provide low-level fighter, tanker, and gunship operations. Starting in 1965, Strategic Air Command began providing DMSP information to Air Force planners, with NASA providing information from their Nimbus satellites. The Navy was unable to receive DMSP data until 1970, when the USS Constellation gained the proper readout equipment. Specific operations that were supported by space forces through DMSP support included the Navy's destruction of the Thanh Hóa Bridge in North Vietnam and Operation Ivory Coast by Army Special Forces and Air Commandos to rescue American prisoners of war in 1970.[2]
Satellite communications support began in June 1966, with a terminal being activated at Tan Son Nhut Air Base using NASA's Synchronous Communications Satellite to communicate with Hawaii. Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program terminals were installed in Saigon and Nha Trang in July 1967, enabling the transmission of high-resolution photography between Saigon and Washington D.C., enabling intelligence analysts and national leadership to assess near-real-time battlefield intelligence. Commercial satellite communications support was also provided by COMSAT.[2]
Air Force Space Command (1982–2019)
Inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command
Despite the rapid development in military space forces within the Air Force, there was no centralized command for them. Air Force Systems Command was responsible for research, development, and procurement, flying the
The development of the
The military application of the shuttle, and the increased space mission for Aerospace Defense Command prompted an internal competition among the Air Force's major commands for the space mission starting in 1974.
Despite this fragmentation, operational space systems were being developed and deployed at an ever expansive rate. In February 1977, the
Renewed Soviet anti-satellite missile tests and co-orbital in 1976 by the
In 1977, the Air Staff released the Proposal for a Reorganization of USAF Air Defense and Space Surveillance/Warning Resources, known informally as the Green Book Study. It marked the beginning of the end for Aerospace Defense Command, calling for its inactivation and the transition of its air defense mission to
Establishment of Air Force Space Command
On 1 October 1979, the Space and Missiles Systems Organization was split, establishing the Space Division and Ballistic Missile Office. This change was in part due to the strain put on SAMSO for developing the
In 1981, Representative Ken Kramer introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives that would have renamed the Department of the Air Force and the United States Air Force into the Department of the Aerospace Force and United States Aerospace Force, respectively. This proposal made Air Force leadership extremely uncomfortable, changing the Air Force's legislative mandate to: "be trained and equipped for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive operations in air and space, including coordination with ground and naval forces and the preservation of free access to space for U.S . spacecraft" and called upon the Air Force to create a space command. Under the pressure and passivity that President Reagan would propose an intendent space force be created, the Air Force relented, committing to the establishment of a major command for space, briefly considering a organizational relationship where the commander of the Space Division would also be duel-hatted as the Aerospace Defense Command deputy commander for space.[2]
On 1 September 1982,
The creation of
Milstar was intended to provide communication for the
On 23 September 1985,
The
Space forces in the Gulf War
Although the Vietnam War was the first war which space forces supported, the Gulf War has sometimes been referred to as the first space war because of the crucial role that space forces played in supporting land, air, and maritime forces.[2] Prior to the Gulf War, most space forces were focused on strategic nuclear deterrence, not on support to tactical forces. Space forces, specifically satellite communications forces, had been providing support to tactical forces during the 1982 Falklands War, the 1983 United States invasion of Grenada, and provided real time mission planning data to strike aircraft in the 1986 United States bombing of Libya. The first use of the Navstar Global Positioning System occurred in the 1988 Operation Earnest Will, and during the United States invasion of Panama, Air Force Space Command provided communications through the Defense Satellite Communications System and weather support through the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. In contrast, the Gulf War utilized the full range of U.S. space forces, with over sixty satellites providing 90% of theater communications and command and control for an army of 500,000 troops, weather support for mission planners, early warning of Iraqi Scud missile launches, and navigation support to terrestrial forces.[2][3]
At the beginning Operation Desert Shield, the defensive and preparation phase of the war, military communications satellites only provided support for an American administrative unit in Bahrain and two training groups in Saudi Arabia, and no weather, navigation, early warning, or remote sensing support was typically tasked to United States Central Command, requiring time for space forces to be assigned to the region. Iraq possessed no space forces of its own, contracting satellite communications with Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Arabsat, however its military leadership made no effort to integrate space into its military planning.[2]
Analysts after the war stated that satellite communications forces provided an absolutely crucial capacity, as much of the desert did not have reliable telecommunication networks. Satellite communications carried over 90% of all communications for the military campaign, with commercial satellites accounting for 24% of the traffic. Coalition forces received communications satellite support from Air Force Space Command's
The Navstar Global Positioning System was the most widely known space system used during the war. The first five operational Block I spacecraft were launched on a Delta II rocket in 1989, joining the prototypes in orbit. The Gulf War accelerated the program, and by 22 August 1990, the constellation consisted of fourteen satellites (six Block I prototypes and eight Block II operational satellites). Launches of two Block II satellites on 2 October and 26 November increased the constellation to 16 satellites right before the commencement of Operation Desert Storm. Army Space Command had purchased 500 demonstration GPS trackers, providing them to fielded forces in August. The Army soon realized the critical navigation capability they provided to its ground forces, and put in an emergency requisition for 1,000 GPS receivers and 300 vehicle installation kits. Later, in December, they requested 7,178 GPS receivers.[2]
Coalition commanders also understood the importance of weather and earth monitoring satellite data in the Gulf region. Weather support was provided by Air Force Space Command's three
Space-based early warning provided by Air Force Space Command's Defense Support Program (DSP) proved critical in detecting Iraqi Scud ballistic missile strikes against coalition forces and Israel. In August 1990, the DSP constellation consisted of three operational satellites and two spares.[2]
After Iraq ignored the U.N. ultimatum to withdraw from Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm, the offensive portion of the campaign, commenced. The Defense Satellite Communications System performed over 700,000 transactions per day and enabled immediate updates of the Air Tasking Order (ATO). Over 1,500 satellite communications terminals were assigned in theater. DCSC itself provided over 50% of all satellite communications requirements, providing the ATO to every air base and carrier. The Navstar Global Positioning System enabled the Army's Left Hook across the Iraqi desert and positioning data provided accuracy to special forces, artillery, and strike aircraft that had never been achieve before in the history of warfare. GPS specifically enabled the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress to perform all weather raids, provided precise coordinates for cruise missile strikes in Baghdad, and enabled Army Apache helicopters to create major gaps in the Iraqi air defense networks. DMSP data provided accurate weather reports that enabled the use of precision laser-guided munitions, tracked rain and sandstorms, and provided updates on oil fires, oil spills, and the possible spread of chemical agents. Defense Support Program satellites provided early warning to Army Air Defense Artillery MIM-104 Patriot missiles.[2]
The Space Commission
The lessons learned during the Gulf War resulted in a renaissance for military space forces, who saw their profile rise within the U.S. Armed Forces. Not burdened by being part of separate air commands, Air Force Space Command began to define its mission sets under the categories of space control, force application, force enhancement, and space support. Space control operations were intended to maintain the ability to use space, while denying an adversary the ability to do the same, to include the development of anti-satellite weapons like the ASM-135 ASAT. Force application was defined as fire support operations from space, such as ballistic missile defense and power projection operations against terrestrial targets. Elements from the Strategic Defense Initiative, such as Brilliant Pebbles and Brilliant Eyes promised a more aggressive military role for space.[2] Space programs and systems continued to develop, including the completion of the 24-satellite Navstar Global Positioning System constellation in 1993, the development of the Space-Based Infrared System to replace the Defense Support Program, and the first launches of Milstar.[3][2]
In 1992, Air Force Systems Command was merged with
Despite the rising prominence of space forces during the Gulf War, a number of prominent generals within the Air Force sought to merge air and space operations into a seamless aerospace continuum. This attracted the ire of Congress, who saw the Air Force attempting to subordinate space to its aviation component, establishing the commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization to investigate. Senator Bob Smith, in particular took issue with the Air Force's management of space and began to propose an independent space force.[13]
Chaired by former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, the 2001 Space Commission recommended that the commander of United States Space Command should cease to be exclusively granted to military pilots and that the entire armed forces needs to cease with the practice of assigning terrestrial combat leaders with little space experience to top space posts. In particular, it noted that of 150 personnel service in space leadership, fewer than 20% had a space background, with the majority of the officers drawn from the pilot, air defense artillery, or nuclear and missile operations careers, and that the average had only spent2.5 years of their careers in space positions. The commission also came to the conclusion that the Air Force was not appropriately developing an independent space culture or education program and was not paying sufficient budgetary attention to space. The commission stated that: "“Few witnesses before the commission expressed confidence that the current Air Force organization is suited to the conduct of these [space] missions...Nor was there confidence that the Air Force will fully address the requirement to provide space capabilities for the other services. Many believe the Air Force treats space solely as a supporting capability that enhances the primary mission of the Air Force to conduct offensive and defensive air operations. Despite official doctrine that calls for the integration of space and air capabilities, the Air Force does not treat the two equally. As with air operations, the Air Force must take steps to create a culture within the service dedicated to developing new space system concepts, doctrine, and operational capabilities." Ultimately, the Space Commission recommended the creation of a separate Space Force as a military branch in the long term, with the establishment of a Space Corps, analogous to the Army Air Forces within the Air Force in the period between 2007 and 2011.[14]
Space forces in the Global War on Terrorism
The promise of a separate Space Corps or Space Force in the 2010s was cut short by the September 11 attacks, which reoriented the focus of the United States from emerging military powers like the People's Republic of China to the Global War on Terrorism against violent non-state actors. Air Force Space Command provided direct support to Operation Enduring Freedom, enabling satellite communications, global positioning system enhancements, and deployed personnel to support counterterrorism operations. For Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Air Force Space Command deployed space operators to forward operating bases in the Middle East and the Defense Satellite Communications System Phase III provided 80% of bandwidth for allied forces in theater, while 85% of Milstar communications capacity was directed towards support of tactical forces.[15]
The 2001 Space Commission report was largely forgotten within the Air Force, replaced by the more pressing requirements of fighting low-end terrorist organizations. None of the White House-level recommendations of having the president declare military space as a top national priority, creating a presidential advisory group for national security space, or appoint an interagency group for space have occurred. Within the Department of Defense the recommendations of creating an under secretary of defense for space, intelligence, and information or putting space programs in a distinct funding category went unheeded. United States Space Command was folded into United States Strategic Command to make way for United States Northern Command, which was responsible for nuclear warfare and deterrence, further diluting military space leadership. Within U.S. Strategic Command, space responsibilities were absorbed into the Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike, in 2006 replaced by the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, and in 2017, be reorganized as the Joint Force Space Component Commander.[16][17]
Some specific recommendations did get implemented, however, with the Air Force acting on the recommendation that space operations and acquisitions should be centralized under one major command, transitioning the
Following the inactivation of U.S. Space Command in 2002, Russia and China began developing sophisticated on-orbit capabilities and an array of counter-space weapons. In particular, China conducted the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test, destroying its Fengyun spacecraft, which, according to NASA, created 2,841 high-velocity debris items, a larger amount of dangerous space junk than any other space event in history.[18][19] On 29 August 2019, United States Space Command was reestablished as a geographic combatant command.[20]
Independent Space Force (2019–present)
Proposals of service independence
The first real attempt to centralize the military space organizations occurred in 1958, with the Advanced Research Projects Agency sometimes being described as, and feared by its detractors that it would become, a fourth military service. While the 1981 proposal to rename the United States Air Force into the United States Aerospace Force was not an attempt to create a space service branch, it did mark a clear attempt by Congress to increase the profile of space within the service, which it rejected. The possibility that President Reagan would announce the creation of the Space Force as an independent service in 1982 spurred the Air Force to establish Air Force Space Command. The 1990s saw a number of proposals for an independent space force, including one by Air Force Space Command Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia A.S. McKinley in 2000 which called for the establishment of a United States Space Guard.[21][2] The most notable proposal for an independent Space Force was by the 2001 Space Commission, which called for the creation of a Space Corps within the Air Force between 2007 and 2011, and the establishment of an independent Space Force after that. The Space Commission was established by Congress after it became concerned that the Air Force was seeking to artificially merge its air and space operations into a seamless aerospace continuum, without regard for the differences between space and air.[22][2] Ultimately, due to the September 11 attacks, a Space Force was not established.[23] The United States' national security space organization actually regressed, with United States Space Command being inactivated in 2002, subsumed into United States Strategic Command. The Allard Commission report, unveiled in the wake of the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test, called for a reorganization of national security space, however many of its recommendations were not acted upon by the Air Force.[23]
Growing impatient with the Air Force, who they felt was more interested in jet fighters than space, Representatives
In March 2018, President
In May 2019, a group of 43 former military, space, and intelligence leaders unaffiliated with the current administration released an open letter calling for a space force. Signatories include former
In June 2019 and July 2019, the Senate and the House passed their own versions of the
On 20 December 2019, President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 into law, which included legislative provisions for creation of the Space Force, under the United States Space Force Act.[52][53] The Space Force was established as the sixth armed service branch, with Air Force General John "Jay" Raymond, the commander of Air Force Space Command and U.S. Space Command, becoming the first chief of space operations.[54] On 14 January 2020, Raymond was officially sworn in as chief of space operations by Vice President Mike Pence.[55]
Raymond era
On 20 December 2019, Air Force Space Command was redesignated as the United States Space Force and its commander, General John W. Raymond was sworn in as its first chief of space operations. On 20 December, its first organizational change occurred when Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett redesignated Air Force Space Command's Fourteenth Air Force as Space Operations Command.[56] All of Air Force Space Command's 16,000 active duty and civilian personnel were assigned to the new service.[57]
Major organizational changes during the first year included replacing its space wings and operations groups with deltas and garrisons on 24 July 2020 and announcing its field command structure, merging wings and groups into deltas and numbered air forces and major commands into field commands. The Space Force announced that its field commands would be
On 3 April 2020, Chief Master Sergeant Roger A. Towberman, formerly command chief of Air Force Space Command, transferred to the Space Force as the Senior Enlisted Advisor of the Space Force, becoming its second member and first enlisted member. On 18 April 2020, 86 graduates of the United States Air Force Academy became the first group of commissioned second lieutenants in the U.S. Space Force, becoming the 3rd to 88th members of the Space Force.[60][61] On 16 July 2020, the Space Force selected 2,410 space operations officers and enlisted space systems operators to transfer to the Space Force, with the first back recommissioning or reenlisting on 1 September. The Space Force swore in its first 7 enlisted recruits on 20 October 2020, graduating basic military training on 10 December 2020 and its first Officer Training School candidates commissioned on 16 October.[62][63] The Space Force also commissioned its first astronaut, with Colonel Michael S. Hopkins, the commander of SpaceX Crew-1, swearing into the Space Force from the International Space Station on 18 December 2020.[64][65][66]
During the first year major symbols were also unveiled, with the Seal of the United States Space Force approved on 15 January 2020 and was revealed on 24 January 2020, the flag of the United States Space Force debuted at signing ceremony for the 2020 Armed Forces Day proclamation on 15 May 2020, the Space Force Delta symbol and motto of Semper Supra released on 22 July 2020, and the official service title of Guardian announced on 18 December 2020.[67][68][69][70] The first Air Force instillations were renamed to Space Force instillations on 9 December 2020, with Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station renamed as Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.[71]
In September 2020, the Space Force and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding formally acknowledging the joint role of both agencies. This new memorandum replaced a similar document signed in 2006 between NASA and Air Force Space Command.[72][73] On October 20, 2020, the first seven guardians enlisted directly into the Space Force.[74] On 20 September 2022, the Space Force unveiled its official anthem, the march "Semper Supra" ("Always Above"), in a performance by the United States Air Force Band during the 2022 Air & Space Forces Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference at National Harbor, Maryland.[75]
The Space Force's first combat operations as a new service included providing early warning of Iranian
Raymond retired as CSO on November 2,2022.
See also
References
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