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 Pentagon is moving forward with plans to invest in manufacturing capacity for the space industrial base, awarding multiple contracts in recent weeks to companies who supply key space components and subsystems as well as firms with innovative manufacturing technology that’s ready to scale.
As President Donald Trump’s commission to study a U.S. Space Academy formulates recommendations, experts say they’ll be watching for more detail on the academy’s mission and scope as well as efforts to garner feedback from members of Congress, who will ultimately get the final say on whether the U.S. needs…
Lt. Gen. Jason D. Voorheis has taken command of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, a sprawling organization with a $400 billion portfolio, establishing him as one of the service’s top acquisition officials.
The Space Force spent nearly $124 million on commercial space data and services between 2023 and 2025—and a little known interagency working group could help facilitate even more data buys going forward.
A new collaborative digital environment could change the way the Space Force—and possibly the broader Defense Department—designs and tests capabilities.
The Pentagon on Aug. 25 announced a pair of Air Force contracts to Raytheon and Boeing, totaling more than $766 million, for advance work on adding new radars to the B-52H Stratofortress.
The Space Force is exploring ways to incentivize acquisition leaders to leverage more commercial innovation across their programs, including a new “scorecard” to quantify their efforts.
A new White House policy calls for the Pentagon to craft plans for additional space launch facilities to support a projected increase in launch demand that could see the U.S. supporting as many as 1,000 launches by 2030, more than a fivefold increase from 2025.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems predicts the new drone it plans to pitch for the military’s “Massed Modular Aircraft” program will exceed many of the military’s requirements for a successor to the MQ-9 Reaper.
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