Air Force & Space Forces Almanac 2024

The Space Force celebrated the activation of its component under U.S. Southern Command in a Jan. 21 ceremony—though it did reveal the organization became operational Dec. 1, 2025, presumably meaning it contributed to Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and take him to the U.S. for trial.

Some Colorado officials are seeking to distance themselves from the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to relocate U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colo., to Huntsville, Ala.—signaling a decreased appetite for extending the yearslong political debate that has dogged the combatant command’s future plans.

U.S. and Canadian military aircraft are on their way to Greenland for a “long-planned” North American Aerospace Defense Command exercise as the future of the Arctic territory’s sovereignty remains in the spotlight.

Congress is looking to add $900 million to save the E-7 airborne early warning and control aircraft from cancelation and $500 million to address "emerging needs" for the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter in the fiscal 2026 appropriations bill released Jan. 20.