2022 USAF & USSF Almanac: U.S. Space Force

Building spacecraft that can survive the heat of reentry by "sweating" a thermally protective layer of gas has been a dream of aerospace engineers for 50 years. Now an Air Force Research Laboratory grant aims to make that a reality.

President Donald Trump wants his signature Golden Dome missile defense program to be up and running before the end of his term and has tapped Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein to lead the project.

The Space Force is facing a 14 percent cut to its civilian workforce due to the Trump administration’s broad push to shrink the number of civilians working for the defense establishment. Instead of anticipated growth in its workforce, the Space Force’s personnel have now shrunk significantly.

Unclear signaling, secret technology, ambiguous policies, and a zero-sum outlook on security may make it “extremely challenging” for the U.S. to deter any and all attacks on U.S. space assets by China, according to a new study.

Dr. Troy E. Meink was sworn in as the next Secretary of the Air Force on May 16, placing a career civil servant with extensive experience in space intelligence at the helm of the Air Force and Space Force.

The projected "Golden Dome" missile defense system could push the U.S. military to broaden its thinking on how to support space operations, the Space Force’s top planner said May 15.

The “Golden Dome” homeland missile defense system proposed by President Donald Trump will likely cost more than half a trillion dollars, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said May 15.

Senior U.S. lawmakers expressed frustration that they are being cut out of some of the Trump administration’s most central decisions on military policy and spending. Their concerns, which are shared on both sides of the aisle, concern the budget reconciliation process as well as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to slash…

Missile Defense Agency is building Discriminating Space Sensor to place its prototype on orbit by 2029. The DSS will track ballistic missiles, and be operated by the Space Force. The DSS, along with the agency's Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites are expected to play a critical role for…