Space Force

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AFNS) --  Space Systems Command’s legacy began in 1954, when the U.S. Air Force was looking for a location for the service’s development of space capabilities. Air Force leadership found Los Angeles County had the right combination of a technically adept workforce and military presence for a crash program to develop missiles, launch vehicles and satellites during the height of the Cold War.For the past seven decades, what was originally formed as the Air Force’s Western Development Division by Air Force Gen. Bernard Schriever and a Space Force field command since 2021, has become the leading organization responsible for acquiring and delivering capabilities to protect U.S. strategic interests in space, including managing a $15.6 bil...

AUSTIN, Texas (AFNS) --  SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force and a unique division within AFWERX, announced the Program Year 2024.2 Strategic Funding Increase, or STRATFI, contract award selections from its Phase II-eligible applicants at the Fed Supernova conference in Austin, Aug. 22.SpaceWERX Director Arthur Grijalva made the announcement at the conclusion of the panel titled SpaceWERX STRATFI Successes and Selections, at Capital Factory, the home of AFWERX’s Austin hub.The panel invited current SpaceWERX STRATFI-contracted companies at various stages in their period of performance to share their experiences with the STRATFI program. It concluded with a special announcement highlighting the nine PY24.2 SpaceWERX STRATFI selected co...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) --  Space has been making headlines more and more in recent years with the dawn of commercial space flight, the introduction of proliferated constellations in Low Earth Orbit, and the invention of reusable rockets, but access to space is not something that can be taken for granted.In a joint prepared statement to Congress in June 2017, the Honorable Heather A. Wilson, U.S. Air Force Gen. David L. Goldfein, Gen. John W. Raymond, and U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel A. Greaves state that “Clearly, freedom to operate in space is not guaranteed. In fact, space is now a warfighting domain, similar to the more familiar air, land, and maritime domains our men and women are fighting in today.”Two years later, on Aug. 29, 2019, U.S....

JOINT BASE ANACOSTIA-BOLLING, Washington, D.C. (AFNS) --  History was made on Aug. 16, as six Space Force students out of basic military training became the first Guardians to graduate technical training at the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.The graduates, five men and one woman, completed the nine-week training with 12 of their fellow Airmen.  “This is a special day for the Air Force and Space Force. These ceremonial guardsmen represent what all our Airmen and Guardians are doing all around the world, past, present and future,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Ryan A.F. Crowley, JBAB and 11th Wing commander. “We look forward to seeing them thrive in our Air Force and Space Force, we’re proud of them.”U.S. Air Force...

GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) --  Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John Bentivegna, toured Goodfellow Air Force Base, Aug. 16, to see what Guardians experience as the newest detachment at a joint center of excellence for students in the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance career fields. The base tour included visits to the intelligence training squadrons and Guardian development flight dorms, a Guardian all-call and concluded with a 9S100 briefing. It highlighted the integral parts that these facilities play in supporting the Department of Defense’s greater mission and developing joint warfighte...