Air Force Space Command | |
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Air Force Space Command emblem
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Active | September 1, 1982 – present |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Type | Major Command |
Role | Development and operation of military space technologies |
Size | 38,000 |
Part of | U.S. Strategic Command |
Headquarters | Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, U.S. |
Nickname(s) | AFSPC |
Motto(s) | Guardians of the High Frontier |
Commanders | |
Commander | Gen John W. Raymond |
Vice Commander | Maj Gen David D. Thompson |
Executive Director | Scott M. Anderson |
Command Chief Master Sergeant | CMSgt Brendan Criswell |
Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is a major command of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of satellite, launch and cyber operations. Operationally, AFSPC is an Air Force component command subordinate to U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), a unified combatant command.
More than 38,000 people perform AFSPC missions at 88 locations worldwide and comprises Regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard military personnel, Department of the Air Force Civilians (DAFC), and civilian military contractors. Composition consist of approximately 22,000 military personnel and 9,000 civilian employees, although their missions overlap.
AFSPC gained the cyber operations mission with the stand-up of 24th Air Force under AFSPC in August 2009. On 1 December 2009, the strategic nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) mission that AFSPC inherited from Air Combat Command (ACC) in 1993, and which ACC had inherited following the inactivation of Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1992, was transferred to the newly established Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).
According to AFSPC, its mission is to "Provide resilient and affordable Space and Cyberspace capabilities for the Joint Force and the Nation." As a result, AFSPC's activities make the space domain reliable to United States warfighters (i.e., combat forces personnel) by assuring their access to space.