This summer, the 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., will assume control of the Air Force’s two new Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites, according to an Air Force Space Command release. The Air Force plans to launch the two space-surveillance satellites into orbit on July 23 from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., states the June 10 release. Airmen from the squadron will take control of them following initial orbital checkout and will then oversee the satellites’ day-to-day operations. “This marks a great milestone for the 1st SOPS and AFSPC,” said Gen. William Shelton, AFSPC commander. “With the alignment of the GSSAP mission to the 1st SOPS, we will achieve new synergies within the space situational awareness mission area,” he said. The squadron already oversees the Air Force’s Space Based Space Surveillance satellite and Advanced Technology Risk Reduction spacecraft, both of which operate in lower altitude orbits. (Peterson report by MSgt. Kevin Williams)
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
