Navy Space Command (abbreviated NAVSPACECOM) is the command that serves as the United States Navy service component of the U.S. Space Command. It is tasked with developing space capability to provide the Navy with global communications, targeting, and reconnaissance using space-based assets.
The U.S. Navy previously had the Naval Space Command (NSC) that was active from 1985 to 2002 as the Navy component of U.S. Space Command, before that organization was restructured and merged with United States Strategic Command by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.[1] The functions of the NSC were then divided between several other organizations, with the command initially becoming part of the Naval Network Warfare Command in July 2002 (which became the "Naval Network and Space Operations Command").[2] In late 2003 the Defense Secretary requested that the Navy transfer all of its space functions to the Air Force, and by the end of 2004 they were given to the Air Force's 20th Space Control Squadron, while the NNSOC reverted to its original name.[3] Prior to its dissolution in 2002, the Naval Space Command headquarters had about 300 personnel.[2]
The Chief of Naval Operations ordered the creation of the Navy Space Command (NAVSPACECOM) on 26 April 2019 to serve as the naval component of the reestablished U.S. Space Command. On 6 March 2022, a letter from the CNO intended for NAVSPACECOM to become a separate command under the leadership of the commander of United States Fleet Cyber Command. The position of Commander, Navy Space Command, was formally established on 1 January 2023,[4] though it was already being used as of 2020 by the head of Fleet Cyber Command.[5] The head of Fleet Cyber Command and its operating component, the U.S. Tenth Fleet, is also the commander of Navy Space Command.[6] The Navy Space Command is tasked with space domain operations to provide the Navy with global communications connectivity and targeting capability from the sea floor to space, through the usage of space assets, together with its other partners in U.S. Space Command.[4][7]
Transfer of the Naval Satellite Operations Center from the Navy to the Space Force.
When the Space Force was established in 2019 it was intended to consolidate the existing military space forces across the Army, Navy, and Air Force.[8] On 21 September 2021, the Navy and Space Force announced that the Naval Satellite Operations Center and its responsibility for narrowband satellite communications would be transferring to the new service.[9] This accelerated implementation of a 2019 pre-Space Force agreement between the Department of the Air Force and the Department of the Navy to transfer responsibility for the Mobile User Objective System follow-on from the Navy to the Air Force and see the Navy end its space operations mission. However, the Space Force agreed to let the Navy maintain a small space research footprint at the Naval Research Laboratory.[10] On 6 June 2022, the Naval Space Operations Center transferred from the Navy to the Space Force, ending 60 years of Naval space operations. Founded as the Navy Astronautics Group in 1962 it was the first military space operations command established and was redesignated the Naval Satellite Operations Center in 1990.[11] The Space Force replaced it with the 10th Space Operations Squadron, named after the United States Tenth Fleet to honor NAVSOC's legacy with it.[12]
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.
The United States Space Command is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers and greater above mean sea level. U.S. Space Command is responsible for the operational employment of space forces that are provided by the uniformed services of the Department of Defense.
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.
The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This command exists to give "national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly".
The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is one of the eleven unified commands of the United States Department of Defense. In both times of peace and war, USTRANSCOM's role is to provide the Department of Defense with air, land, and sea transportation. USTRANSCOM was founded in 1987 and is based at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
A unified combatant command, also referred to as a combatant command (CCMD), is a joint military command of the United States Department of Defense that is composed of units from two or more service branches of the United States Armed Forces, and conducts broad and continuing missions. There are currently 11 unified combatant commands, and each is established as the highest echelon of military commands, in order to provide effective command and control of all U.S. military forces, regardless of branch of service, during peace or during war time. Unified combatant commands are organized either on a geographical basis or on a functional basis, e.g., special operations, force projection, transport, and cybersecurity. Currently, seven combatant commands are designated as geographical, and four are designated as functional. Unified combatant commands are "joint" commands and have specific badges denoting their affiliation.
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 Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) is a U.S.–led multinational space operations center that provides command and control of space forces for the United States Space Command under the United States Space Force component field command United States Space Forces – Space. The CSpOC is located at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces, and the Shore Establishment.
The Naval Network Warfare Command (NAVNETWARCOM) is the United States Navy's information operations, intelligence, networks, and space unit. Naval Network Warfare Command's mission is to execute, under Commander TENTH Fleet Operational Control, tactical-level command and control of Navy Networks and to leverage Joint Space Capabilities for Navy and Joint Operations.
Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, and manages the United States' space launch ranges.
The U.S. Tenth Fleet is a functional formation and a numbered fleet in the United States Navy. It was first created as an anti-submarine warfare coordinating organization during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. It was reactivated as a force provider for Fleet Cyber Command on 29 January 2010. U.S. Tenth Fleet serves as the numbered fleet for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and exercises operational control of assigned naval forces to coordinate with other naval, coalition and Joint Task Forces to execute the full spectrum of cyber, electronic warfare, information operations, and signal intelligence capabilities and missions across the cyber, electromagnetic, and space domains.
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. 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.
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.
Space Operations Command (SpOC) is the United States Space Force's space operations, cyber operations, and intelligence field command. Headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, it consists of its mission deltas, and garrison commands.
Stephen Newman Whiting is a United States Space Force general who serves as the commander of the United States Space Command. He previously served as the first commander of Space Operations Command from 2020 to 2024.
The United States Space Force is organized by different units: the Space Staff, the field commands, and the space deltas.
While the United States Space Force gained its independence on 20 December 2019, the history of the United States Space Force can be traced back to the beginnings of the military space program following the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945. Early military space development was begun within the United States Army Air Forces by General Henry H. Arnold, who identified space as a crucial military arena decades before the first spaceflight. Gaining its independence from the Army on 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force began development of military space and ballistic missile programs, while also competing with the United States Army and United States Navy for the space mission.
The U.S. Marine Corps Forces Space Command is the Marine Corps service component of the United States Space Command. It is tasked with providing support to the Fleet Marine Force using space assets, including in communications, targeting, and navigation, to increase warfighter lethality.
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