U.S. Spaceforce

The United States Space Force (USSF), formerly the Air Force Space Command (AFSC), is the branch of the United States military forces that addresses space warfare for the United States. The United States Space Force officially replaced the AFSC in December 2019 with the signing of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As of the signing of the bill, the USSF is planned to be fully set up within the US Armed Forces by the middle of 2022. The USSF is generally tasked with accelerating space-based military technologies to ensure that the United States has a technological and military advantage over other countries in space. [1]

The three main duties of the USSF as outlined by the NDAA are to “protect the interests of the United States in space”, “deter aggression in, from, and to space”, and “conduct space operations”. For FSO and satcom specific purposes, one of the main missions of the USSF is called “Space Support to Operations”, which involves satellite communications both in-theater and for weather and navigational purposes. [2] [3]

On February 19, 2020, the Chief of Space Operations signed the USSF Vision for Enterprise SATCOM, a document which outlines the USSF’s intention to evolve military satcom capabilities in an increasingly congested communication environment. [4] A press release from USSF states that the USSF aims to use their commercial partners to evaluate technologies that may complement or replace portions of the traditional military SATCOM system, i.e., implementing laser-based communications alongside upgraded radio frequency technology. [5]

Related Links

Website: USSF Home Page