The 2nd Space Launch Squadron is an active

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...

unit. It is located at

Vandenberg Space Force Base Vandenberg Space Force Base , previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from ...

, California, and was reactivated in July 2019 with the merger of the 4th Space Launch Squadron and the 1st Air and Space Test Squadron.

History

When founded, the two launch squadrons at

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg Sp ...

divided launch duties, with the 4th Space Launch Squadron working with Titan II and Titan IV vehicles while the 2nd worked with

Delta II Delta II was an expendable launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000, and the two later Delta 7000 ...

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

, and other launch vehicles. On 18 May 1998, the two squadrons merged into the 2nd SLS. The merged squadron was responsible for all launch operations at Vandenberg AFB. The reason for the merger was the similarity in missions performed by both units. It was inactivated after the last

Titan IV Titan IV was a family of heavy-lift space launch vehicles developed by Martin Marietta and operated by the United States Air Force from 1989 to 2005. Launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Air Forc ...

launch. In June 2019 the 4th Space Launch Squadron and the 1st Air and Space Test Squadron merged and reactivated as the 2nd Space Launch Squadron. The reestablished unit took on all the missions of both the 1st Air and Space Test Squadron and the 4th Space Launch Squadron. the 2nd Space Launch Squadron was one of only two space launch squadrons in the U.S. Air Force. the other being the 5th Space launch Squadron at Cape Canaveral. Both space launch squadrons are now part of the U.S. Space Force.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 2d Space Launch Squadron on 11 September 1990 : Activated on 1 October 1990Lineage, including assignments, decorations and stations, through 1995 in Endicott, p. 330 : Inactivated on 31 October 2005Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, October 2005, Maxwell AFB, AL : Activated on 1 June 2019

Assignments

* Western Space and Missile Center, 1 October 1990 * 30th Operations Group, 19 November 1991 *

30th Launch Group The 30th Launch Group was a United States Air Force unit, and was assigned to the 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg AFB Vandenberg Space Force Base , previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara Cou ...

, 1 December 2003 - 31 October 2005 * 30th Operations Group, 1 June 2019

Stations

, California, 1 October 1990 – 31 October 2005; 1 June 2019 - present

Aircraft and missiles

Atlas E The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dyna ...

* Atlas IIAS *

Titan II The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a medium-lift space l ...

, 1 October 1990 – 2005

Decorations

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and was the first independent Air Force d ...

* 1 November 1991 - 30 September 1993

List of commanders

* Lt Col

Clinton Crosier Clinton E. Crosier is a retired United States Air Force major general who last served as director of space force planning in the Office of the Chief of Space Operations. After retiring, he was hired to lead Amazon Web Services' new Aerospac ...

, July 2001–July 2003 * Lt Col

David D. Thompson David Dean Thompson (born February 18, 1963) is a retired United States Space Force General (United States), general who served as the first vice chief of space operations from 2020 to 2023. He served as the vice commander of the Air Force Spac ...

, June 2002–July 2004 * Lt Col Brian Chatman, 25 June 2019 * Lt Col Ken Peters, July 2020-June 2022

References

Bibliography

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External links

Vandenberg Air Force Base
{{DEFAULTSORT:2nd Space Launch Squadron Squadrons of the United States Space Force