The 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23 SOPS) is a satellite control unit of the

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...

. It is part of Space Delta 6 and is located at New Boston Space Force Station,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Prior to July 2020, part of the 50th Network Operations Group, itself a part of the 50th Space Wing.

History

23rd Airways Detachment (1942–1943)

The 23rd Space Operations Squadron was originally activated on 25 July 1942 as the 23rd Airways Detachment. The squadron served in India and China during World War II, earning campaign streamers for India-Burma (1942–1945) and the China Defensive (1942–1945) before disbanding on 1 December 1943.

Air Force Space Command (1991–2019)

On 1 November 1991, the Air Force reconstituted the 23rd Airways Detachment and designated it the 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23rd SOPS).

Air Force Space Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

(AFSPC) activated the unit at New Boston Air Force Station in New Hampshire. The squadron assumed responsibility for the operation of the New Hampshire Tracking Station, replacing a detachment of the 2nd Satellite Tracking Group. Satellite support operations there had begun on 1 April 1960, using van-mounted equipment. Simultaneous with van operations, the installation of equipment in permanent facilities began under the Weapons Systems 117L program. Van operations were gradually phased out, and by June 1964 the entire station was operating in permanent facilities. By the summer of 1964, the station had dual satellite tracking, telemetry and commanding capabilities. On 1 October 1987 the operations were transferred to AFSPC, and the station moved from a research and development environment into the operational Air Force. On 10 March 2004, the squadron was realigned under the 50th Network Operations Group, part of the 50th Space Wing. It began supporting three other SCN sites in October 2010, including Detachment 1 located at

Thule Air Base Pituffik Space Base ( ; ; ), formerly Thule Air Base (), is a United States Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark under a defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. 150 United Stat ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, and RAF Oakhanger in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The third site, the Eastern Vehicle Checkout Facility (EVCF), is located at

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(callsign BEACH) and ensures SCN capabilities and operation of satellites prior to and during initial launch. The squadron began supporting two

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...

(GPS) ground antennas and monitor stations on 1 August 2011. One is located at Cape Canaveral and the other is located at Ascension Auxiliary Air Field on

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

in the South

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The squadron completed installation of an Automated Remote Tracking Station capability at the Eastern Vehicle Checkout Facility based at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 29 August 2013. The EVCF is responsible for launch-based compatibility testing and launch data collection, primarily on the Eastern Launch Range.

US Space Force (2019–present)

The squadron was realigned to Space Delta 6 of the

on 24 July 2020.

Mission

The 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23rd SOPS) provides US Space Command with critical satellite command and control capability to more than 190

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

, national and civilian satellites performing

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

, early-warning and

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

operations.

Locations

The squadron provides assured access to space and cyberspace by operating and maintaining the

Satellite Control Network The Satellite Control Network (SCN), operated by the United States Space Force's Space Delta 6, provides support for the operation, control, and maintenance of a variety of United States Department of Defense and some non-DoD satellites. This in ...

's largest remote tracking station at New Boston Space Force Station in

, as well as at three other Geographically Separate Units located at

Pituffik Space Base Pituffik Space Base ( ; ; ), formerly Thule Air Base (), is a United States Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark under a defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. 150 United Stat ...

in Greenland, Oakhanger in the United Kingdom, and the Eastern Vehicle Checkout Facility (EVCF) at

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

in Florida.

Operations

The squadron provides real-time capability to users performing on-orbit tracking,

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...

, commanding, and mission data retrieval services. Additionally, the squadron provides remote command and control capability through two Global Positioning System (GPS) control stations located at

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

and Ascension Auxiliary Air Field in the South Atlantic Ocean. The squadron also operates and maintains a

ground station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fr ...

of the Defense Satellite Communications System and additional equipment in support of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA) and other mission partners. The 23rd SOPS operates and maintains New Boston SFS, an installation of which includes infrastructure worth more than $106 million. The squadron performs all station operations for the installation including security, civil engineering, communications, services, natural resources and safety.

List of commanders

*Lt Col David G. Hanson, 28 June 2011 *Lt Col Sarah Jackson, ~2013 *Lt Col Marty Easter, ~2015 *Lt Col Kenneth Holmes, ~2017 *Lt Col Daniel Highlander, 2 July 2019 *Lt Col David Zesinger, 12 July 2021 *Lt Col Devin Zufelt, 22 June 2023

References

External links

Official squadron fact sheet
{{USAF Space Command Squadrons of the United States Space Force Military units and formations in New Hampshire