Armed Forces News

The Air Force’s 45th Space Wing - now part of the US Space Force unit - supported NASA’s successful launch of Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., April 2017.

The U.S. Space Force became the sixth branch of the armed forces last month, when President Trump signed the 2020 defense-spending bill. Pentagon leadership hailed the move as a critical step in recognizing the strategic importance of space.

US Space Force will absorb thousands of civilian employees now working on related issues in other DoD components and have its own personnel system.

Gen. Jay Raymond was sworn in as the first Chief of Space Operations by Vice President Mike Pence during a Jan. 14 White House ceremony.

“Our military services have created the world’s best space capabilities,” Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said. “This new service will help ensure we are postured to deter aggression, defend our national interests and outpaced potential adversaries.”

“In military operations, space is not just a place from which we support combat operations in other domains, but a warfighting domain in and of itself,” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley said. “Our adversaries are building and deploying capabilities to threaten us, so we can no longer take space for granted.”