The Vandenberg Tracking Station is a remote tracking station, located near Santa Maria, Calif., operating within the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN). This collection of remote tracking stations allow space operations centers (SOCs) to communicate with their space assets.Tech. Sgt. JT Armstrong)
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2025 USAF & USSF Almanac: USSF Space Systems
June 20, 2025
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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
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 opening a competition to expand its ground architecture to support a growing fleet of missile warning, tracking, and defense satellites.
The Space Force and the Defense Innovation Unit have chosen two firms to demonstrate the ability of small satellites built with low-cost, commercial technology to track both friendly and adversary satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
When Space Force leaders started talking about expanding the service early this year, the idea was simple: double the size of the force in the next five years. At AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber conference this week, officials detailed just how they’re planning to grow so much so quickly.
The Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft will take part in their first large-force engagement exercise in December, the head of the drones’ Experimental Operations Unit said Sept. 15.
The Space Force revealed this week that it has space control weapons on orbit, but the head of U.S. Space Command said the U.S. still has “a long way to go” in improving its ability to detect and target threats in the domain.
As the Space Force prepares to field new fleets of satellites that can track moving targets in the air and on the ground, it’s working to ensure it has the organizational structures in place to onboard and operate those systems.
The Space Development Agency wants to wrap up its Tranche 1 launch campaign by the end of spring 2027, flying six more batches of satellites to build out its tracking and data transport constellations, according to Director Gurpartap Sandhoo.
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
The Space Force estimates about 10 percent of its programs will be impacted under a continuing resolution for the coming fiscal year, according to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess.
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