United States Space Command

United States Space Command (USSPACECOM or SPACECOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations above 100 kilometers above mean sea level.

Space Command was originally created in September 1985 to provide joint command and control for all military forces in outer space and coordinate with the other combatant commands. SPACECOM was inactivated in 2002, and its responsibilities and forces were merged into United States Strategic Command. After nearly 17 years, a new Space Command was established on 29 August 2019, with a reemphasized focus on space as a war-fighting domain.

Mission
Space Command's mission is: "To conduct operations in, from, and through space to deter conflict, and if necessary, defeat aggression, deliver space combat power for the Joint/Combined force, and defend U.S. vital interests with allies and partners."

Organization
United States Space Command has two subordinate components. The Combined Force Space Component Command is responsible for planning and conducting global space operations, while also providing space effects to the other combatant commands and U.S. allied partners. Joint Task Force–Space Defense is responsible for conducing space superiority operations.

Structure
Combined Force Space Component Command (CFSCC), Vandenberg Air Force Base, California Joint Task Force–Space Defense (JTF–SD), Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado
 * Seal of the Combined Space Operations Center.png Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC), Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
 * Seal of the Missile Warning Center.png Missile Warning Center (MWC), Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colorado
 * Seal of the Joint Overhead Persistent Infrared Center.png Joint Overhead Persistent Infrared Center (JOPC), Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado
 * Seal of the Joint Navigation Warfare Center.png Joint Navigation Warfare Center (JNWC), Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
 * Seal of the National Space Defense Center.png National Space Defense Center (NSDC), Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado

Service components
As a unified combatant command, Space Command has a number of service components that provide forces to it.


 * United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command Logo.svg Space and Missile Defense Command (Army component)
 * Marine Corps Forces Space Command (Marine Corps component)
 * Emblem of the U.S. Navy Space Command.png Navy Space Command (Navy component)
 * Emblem of the Space Operations Command.png Space Operations Command (Space Force component)
 * Joint-forces-headquarters-cyber air force.png Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber Air Force (Cyber Command component)

First establishment: 1985–2002
United States Space Command was established in as a functional combatant command 1985 to provide joint command and control of the Air Force, Army, and Navy's space forces, as well as prepare for the implementation of the Strategic Defense Initiative.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the armed forces' focus on homeland defense and counter-terrorism was significantly increased, which resulted in space being deemphasized. It was in this context that the unified command plan was reevaluated, resulting in U.S. Northern Command being established for the defense of the North American continent, while U.S. Space Command was merged with U.S. Strategic Command, where its responsibilities were absorbed into the Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike. In 2006, this would be replaced by the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, and in 2017, be reorganized as the Joint Force Space Component Commander.

The Army components for the first formation of Space Command were the Army Space Agency (1986–1988); Army Space Command (1988–1992); and Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (1992–1997), which eventually became today's Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Up until 2002 Naval Space Command was the naval component, and Air Force Space Command the USAF component.



Second establishment: 2019–present
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law in 2018, directed the re-establishment of U.S. Space Command as a sub-unified combatant command under U.S. Strategic Command; however, in December 2018, the Trump administration directed that U.S. Space Command instead be a newly established, full unified combatant command, with full responsibilities for space war-fighting, which at the time, was under the authority of U.S. Strategic Command.

On March 26, 2019, U.S. Air Force General John W. Raymond was nominated to be the commander of the second establishment of USSPACECOM, pending Senate approval. In 2019 the Air Force released that the list of finalists for the Headquarters of Space Command were Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Schriever Air Force Base, Peterson Air Force Base, Buckley Air Force Base, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and Redstone Arsenal. U.S. Space Command was officially reestablished on August 29, 2019 during a ceremony at the White House. The former Joint Force Space Component Commander was dissolved and folded into Space Command. Following the creation of the United States Space Force in December 2019, the Department of the Air Force widened its search for a location of Space Command's permanent headquarters.

USSPACECOM has two subordinate commands: Combined Force Space Component Command (CFSCC), and Joint Task Force Space Defense (JTF-SD) with commanders AF Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting, and Army BG Gen. Tom James, respectively. CFSCC plans, integrates, conducts, and assesses global space operations in order to deliver combat relevant space capabilities to Combatant Commanders, Coalition partners, the Joint Force, and the Nation. JTF-SD conducts, in unified action with mission partners, space superiority operations to deter aggression, defend U.S. and allied interests, and defeat adversaries throughout the continuum of conflict.

On August 2020, In the meeting of the National Space Council, acting Director of National Intelligence announced in case of an attack on the U.S. satellites the operational control of intelligence community assets will be in the ambit of the military, resulting in the National Reconnaissance Office being operationally subordinated to the commander of U.S. Space Command in matters of space defense.

Commanders
Note: The numeric order of the commanders were reset due to the second establishment being considered a different command than the first.

United States Space Command
Commanders of Space Command by branches of service
 * Air Force: 8
 * Space Force: 1
 * Army: 1
 * Marine Corps: none
 * Navy: none
 * Coast Guard: none