2024 USAF & USSF Almanac: U.S. Space Force

The Air Force last month kicked off a feedback-gathering campaign about a plan to transform one of its largest and most important career fields: aircraft maintenance.

U.S. Space Force contractors are building an AI-powered tool to detect cyberattacks on satellites by directly monitoring the behavior and telemetry outputs of satellite systems in orbit, executives said this week. 

The U.S. military launched 21 satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Sept. 10, carrying out the first phase of the Space Development Agency’s plan to put more than 100 operational “Tranche 1” data transport spacecraft in orbit over the next year.

Two months after rolling out an eight-inch minimum height requirement for combat boots, the Air Force is cutting the requirement down to six inches to make compliance easier for more Airmen.

The Space Force welcomed its first officers trained in a way far different from decades of Air Force practice late last month. Eighty-four space professionals graduated from the Space Force’s first Officer Training Course on Aug. 28, a yearlong program in which Guardians were trained in all aspects of the service’s…

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org The Space Development Agency is ready to start launching operational satellites—and...

A trio of Air Force general officers have been nominated for a third star and new jobs, the Pentagon announced Sept. 8. Two of the three—Maj. Gen. Kenyon K. Bell and Maj. Gen. Brandon D. Parker—are slated to join the Air Staff. Maj. Gen. Robert D. Davis, meanwhile, would lead U.S.…

Derek M. Tournear, the head of the Space Development Agency that spearheaded the trailblazing push to buy and launch small satellites at a speed and scale unseen in military space circles, is departing the organization for a job in academia just before a momentous launch. 

“This much is certain: First, U.S. Air Force airpower is vital to deter adversaries and secure victory in conflict; and second, the U.S. Air Force is too small, too old, and too lacking in combat readiness to meet the nation’s security requirements. The Air Force needs decisive, insightful leadership not…