The United States has a new military branch, but what exactly is it and what’s its purpose? Let’s take a closer look at what the United States Space Force is, the history that helped create it, and what exactly it is responsible for.

What is the United States Space Force?

Established during the Trump administration, The United States Space Force or, USSF, is the space warfare service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services. The direct antecedent of the Space Force was the Air Force Space Command, which was formed on September 1, 1982.

The National Defense Authorization Act for 2020 officially redesigned the Air Force Space Command as the USSF and established it as an independent branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on December 20, 2019.

Recent History of the U.S. Military Presence in Space

Back in 1982, when the Air Force Space Command was responsible for all space warfare operations, their goal was to strengthen America’s advantage in space during the Cold War, primarily through advanced military satellites. Space Command played a crucial role in establishing the Global Positioning System (GPS), which improved American ability to quickly detect missile launches and monitor military movements around the world. Space gained even more attention as countries like China and Russia developed weapons capable of destroying American satellites and began deploying more of their own space assets.

What Does the United States Space Force Do?

This is a loaded question, but to keep things simple, we learned from our history that having a superior presence in space clearly has its advantages. On one end, the USSF responsibilities are to provide services, facilities, and range safety control for the Department of Defense, NASA, and any commercial space launches. They will also use Satellites to provide secure communications, weather, and navigational data, and like mentioned before, be a vital resource in threat warnings.

To build on that, on the other end, USSF's responsibilities will also include having space-based systems monitor potential threats like missile launches around the world to guard against a surprise attack. A global network of space surveillance sensors provides vital information on the location of satellites and space debris for the nation and the world.

Putting It All Together

Although there is some controversy on if the USSF is a necessary military branch or worth the funding at this point in our time, regardless, our past and today’s technology has proven that knowledge is power. Maintaining space superiority is a valuable resource to protect all U.S. space assets from outside forces.

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