The Space Force activated its component for U.S. Northern Command on Jan. 30, which will provide the combatant command greater access to space capabilities and expertise amid the Pentagon’s increasing focus on homeland defense.
U.S. Space Forces Northern’s activation comes almost two months after the Space Force established a component to U.S. Southern Command. During an activation ceremony at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, NORTHCOM Commander Gen. Gregory Guillot highlighted the role Space Forces Northern, which is led by Brig. Gen. Robert Schreiner, will play in the homeland defense mission.
“As technological and numeric threats to the nation intensify, Space Forces Northern will bring crucial capabilities to the Homeland Defense mission, including enhanced domain awareness; missile warning and tracking; positioning, navigation, and timing; SATCOM; and the capacity for orbital and electromagnetic warfare,” Guillot, who also leads North American Aerospace Defense Command, said according to a Jan. 30 press release.
As the combatant command responsible for homeland defense, NORTHCOM has a key role to play in the Trump administration’s new National Defense Strategy, released Jan. 23. The document, which will shape DOD’s military posture and budget priorities in the coming years, elevates the importance of protecting the U.S. and partnering with neighbors in North and South America.
The command is helping craft requirements for Golden Dome, an advanced missile defense shield that will bring together ground, air, and space systems to track and defeat missile threats against the U.S. Space sensors and nascent interceptor technology are a central part of the department’s vision for the capability.
Space Forces Northern, co-located with NORTHCOM at Peterson, is the service’s eighth component. Along with its NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM components, the Space Force has established components within U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S. Space Command, and a combined component for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command. It also has components for sub-unified combatant commands in Japan and Korea.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman has said the service intends to establish components within every combatant command, a message he reiterated at the activation ceremony.
“Space forces and capabilities are a critical part of the Joint Force package, and by normalizing our force presentation we are able to integrate all activities within individual force offerings,” Saltzman said. “We are on track to establish Service Components in all Combatant Commands, resulting in a Space Force better postured to employ forces and expertise to deter conflicts and win wars.”
The only combatant commands still without Space Force components are so-called “functional” COCOMs—those responsible for specific mission sets instead of geographic areas:
- U.S. Special Operations Command
- U.S. Cyber Command
- U.S. Strategic Command
- U.S. Transportation Command
