Naval Space Command | |
---|---|
Founded | 1 October 1985 |
Disbanded | July 2002 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Navy |
Type | Space command |
Part of | United States Space Command |
Headquarters | Dahlgren, Virginia |
The Naval Space Command (NSC) was a military command of the United States Navy and former component command of United States Space Command. It was headquartered at Dahlgren, Virginia, and began operations on 1 October 1985. [1] Naval Space Command used space capabilities to support naval forces through the operation of reconnaissance and communications satellites, as well as representing the Navy's space interests, both within the Navy and within U.S. Space Command. [2]
The command was merged into Naval Network and Space Operations Command, itself part of Naval Network Warfare Command, about July 2002. [3]
In the late 1950s the United States Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard Minitrack system used electronic signals emitted by Sputnik and other satellites to characterize their orbits, serving as one of the first methods of ground-based satellite tracking. This system would become commissioned in 1961 as the Naval Space Surveillance System, and in 1993 the system would be transferred to Naval Space Command. Three transmitter sites in the network were located at Jordan Lake, Alabama, Lake Kickapoo, Texas, and Gila River, Arizona, while six receiver sites were located at Tattnall County, Georgia, Hawkinsville, Georgia, Silver Lake, Mississippi, Red River, Arkansas, Elephant Butte, New Mexico, and San Diego, California. [4]
In 1987 the Naval Space Command was given the responsibility for operating the Alternate Space Operations Center for U.S. Space Command. Additionally, NSC had responsibility for operating U.S. Space Command's space surveillance networks, as well as providing space intelligence support to naval forces. [2]
While officially disestablished in 2002, in 2004 significant components of Naval Space Command were transferred to Air Force Space Command's 20th Space Control Squadron (now the 20th Space Surveillance Squadron of the United States Space Force). These components include the former Naval Space Surveillance System (renamed the Air Force Space Surveillance System) and the responsibility for operating the Alternate Space Operations Center. [4]
The AN/FPS-133 Air Force Space Surveillance System, colloquially known as the Space Fence, was a U.S. government multistatic radar system built to detect orbital objects passing over America. It is a component of the U.S. space surveillance network, and according to the U.S. Navy was able to detect basketball sized objects at heights up to 30,000 km (19,000 mi).
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consist of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States, along with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
The United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) is the Army Service Component Command (ASCC) for United States Strategic Command and United States Space Command. It was established in 1985 as the Army Strategic Defense Command, responsible for ballistic missile defense. In 1992, it merged with Army Space Command to become Army Space and Strategic Defense Command. In 1997, it became an Army Major Command and was redesignated Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
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A space command is a military organization with responsibility for space operations and warfare. A space command is typically a joint organization or organized within a larger military branch and is distinct from a fully independent space force. The world's first space command, the United States' Air Force Space Command was established in 1982 and later became the United States Space Force in 2019.
The 21st Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force.
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The 20th Space Surveillance Squadron is a Space Delta 2 unit located at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida with the mission to execute multiplatform, tactical space warfighting domain characterization, recognition, and responsiveness to achieve 21st Space Wing and United States Space Command intent. The unit, formerly designated the 20th Space Control Squadron, was renamed on 25 March 2022.
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The Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) is an independent and objective agency within the United States Navy for the operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) of naval aviation, surface warfare, submarine warfare, C4I, cryptologic, and space systems in support Navy and Department of Defense acquisition programs.
The U.S. Fleet Cyber Command is an operating force of the United States Navy responsible for the Navy's information network operations, offensive and defensive cyber operations, space operations and signals intelligence. It was created in January 2010 "to deter and defeat aggression and to ensure freedom of action to achieve military objectives in and through cyberspace". U.S. Tenth Fleet was simultaneously reactivated as its force provider. Since it was founded, the command has grown into an operational force composed of more than 16,000 active and reserve sailors and civilians organized into 27 active commands, 40 Cyber Mission Force units, and 27 reserve commands around the world.
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Space Delta 2 is the United States Space Force's space domain awareness and space battle management delta and is headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Space Delta 2 tracks and monitors all human made objects from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit and further out to deep space. It also partners with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide weather satellite observation for the U.S. Armed Forces. It consists of the 15th Space Surveillance, 18th Space Defense Squadron, 19th Space Defense Squadron, and 20th Space Surveillance Squadron.
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