2023 USAF & USSF Almanac: U.S. Space Force

President Donald Trump on July 4 signed into law $150 billion in defense funds as part of the tax-and-spending package known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” after congressional Republicans approved the legislation in narrow, drawn-out votes earlier this week.

Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich assumed command of U.S. European Command on July 1, taking over the key assignment as the U.S. and its allies contend with a resurgent Russia and a grinding war in Ukraine.

The Space Force's first planned satellite launch to begin a new missile warning constellation in medium-Earth orbit has slipped from late 2026 to spring 2027 as a key component remains unproven. But the service is making progress and moving forward with plans for new batches of satellites, the Guardian in charge…

The Senate passed Republicans’ sweeping tax-and-spending package July 1 in a 51-50 vote, the culmination of a 27-hour marathon legislative session. The package—often called the reconciliation bill—includes a $150 billion package of defense funds that accounts for a significant portion of the money the Air Force and Space Force want…

The Space Force is playing midwife to a new ecosystem of commercial satellite constellations providing alternatives to the service’s own Global Positioning Service from much closer to the Earth, making their signals more accurate and harder to jam.  

The long-term future of one of the Space Development Agency’s two satellite constellations is on hold as officials study the options for replacing a planned “data transport layer” with one or more commercial solutions. President Trump’s proposed 2026 defense budget...

The 36-hour operation by the U.S. military to fly deep into Iranian airspace and use Air Force B-2s to drop massive bunker buster bombs on a heavily fortified Iranian nuclear complex traces its roots to the work of intelligence analysts over 15 years ago.

Buoyed mostly by extra funds earmarked for Golden Dome in the reconciliation bill being considered by Congress, the Space Force says its 2026 budget request is roughly $40 billion—an increase of more than 30 percent over 2025. Among the services, the Space Force is getting the largest proportion of its 2026…

NATO members pledged to ramp up military spending at their annual summit as they look to address growing fears about Russia’s ambitions and meet President Donald Trump’s demands that European nations contribute more to their own defense.