The 3rd Test and Evaluation Squadron (3 TES) (formerly 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron (3 SES)) is a space test and evaluation unit located at

Schriever Space Force Base Schriever Space Force Base, previously Schriever Air Force Base, Falcon Air Force Base, and Falcon Air Force Station, is a base of the United States Space Force located approximately east of Peterson Space Force Base near Colorado Springs, Col ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. As part of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, the squadron was described, in 2008, as "AFSPC's premier organization for space-based demonstrations, pathfinders and experiments. The unit identifies concepts of employment, training, education and technical skill sets required to field selected future AFSPC missions. The 3d SES will develop a core cadre of space professionals to serve as subject matter experts for all future AFSPC space-based endeavors, demonstrate operational utility of selected demonstrations and apply lessons learned from demonstrations and pathfinders for use in future initiatives."

History

The 3d SES was first constituted as the 3d Surveillance Squadron on August 10, 1990, at

Misawa AB is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, in the northern part of the island of Honshū of Japan. It is located north of Tokyo at the "Tip ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. However it was not activated at that time. In preparation for its activation and operations, Det. 3,

73d Space Group Mission Delta 3 (MD3) is a United States Space Force unit responsible for presenting operational combat-ready electromagnetic warfare forces in support of assigned missions. It is headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base. Activated on 24 J ...

activated in January 1991 to oversee construction and site preparation for the 3d. The home for the 3d SS (project name RINGO) was completed on March 16, 1991. Two antennas, an operations building, support building, pump housing and entry control point were constructed beginning on October 1, 1991, and was completed on May 31, 1992. Later that year, the unit was redesignated 3d Space Surveillance Squadron and it activated on October 1. The unit's Deep Space Tracking System obtained initial operating capability in April 1994. The squadron inactivated on February 20, 2002. Assigned to the 73d Space Group, the 3d was tasked with operating passive sensors for the Deep Space Tracking System. The squadron was one of two Deep Space Tracking System squadrons located throughout the world. The DSTS tracked objects orbiting more than 22,300 miles above the Earth. More than 9,500 man-made objects orbit the Earth, ranging in size from a baseball to the Mir space station. The 3d SPSS forwarded this data to the 1st Command and Control Squadron and the Space Control Center, Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, CO. The 1st CACS and the center use this information, along with other data, to catalog and identify all man-made Earth-orbiting objects. Several agencies use this information for everything from collision avoidance to intelligence. On February 23, 2006, Air Force Space Command ordered the unit redesignated 3d Space Experimentation Squadron and activated it effective March 10, 2006, with its new home at

Schriever AFB Schriever Space Force Base, previously Schriever Air Force Base, Falcon Air Force Base, and Falcon Air Force Station, is a base of the United States Space Force located approximately east of Peterson Space Force Base near Colorado Springs in E ...

. On August 23, 2021, the United States Space Force, Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), ordered the unit redesignated 3d Test and Evaluation Squadron and activated it effective August 27, 2021.

Lineage

* Constituted as 3d Surveillance Squadron on 10 Aug 1990 : Re-designated: 3d Space Surveillance Squadron on 1 October 1992 : Activated on 1 October 1992 : Inactivated on 20 February 2002 : Re-designated: 3d Space Experimentation Squadron on 16 February 2006 : Activated on 10 March 2006 : Re-designated: 3d Test and Evaluation Squadron on 27 Aug 2021

Assignments

, 1 October 1992 – 25 April 1995 *

21st Operations Group Mission Delta 2 (MD2) is the United States Space Force's space domain awareness Space Delta, delta, headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Mission Delta 2 tracks and monitors all human made objects from low Earth orbit to geosync ...

26 April 1995 – 20 February 2002 * 595th Space Group, 10 March 2006 – 30 March 2013 * 50th Operations Group, 1 April 2013 – 18 June 2020 * 750th Operations Group, 19 June 2020 – 23 July 2020 * STAR Delta-P, 24 July 2020 – 26 August 2021 *

Space Delta 12 Space Delta 12 (DEL 12) is a United States Space Force unit responsible for space Independent test organization, test and evaluation. It tests space systems and capabilities in support of weapon system acquisition, operational acceptance, and re ...

, 27 August 2021 – Present

Detachments

*Detachment 1, 3d Space Surveillance Squadron -

Osan AB Osan Air Base (K-55; ; Hanja: ) is a United States Air Force (USAF) and Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) base located near Songtan station in the city of Pyeongtaek, South Korea, south of Seoul. Despite its name, Osan AB is not within Osan ...

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Stations

(1 Oct 1992–20 Feb 2002) *

(10 Mar 2006 – present)

Space Systems

* Deep Space Tracking System (1992–2002)

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 ...

**1 Jan 2000-31 Aug 2001 **1 Jan 1999-31 Dec 1999 **1 Jan 1998-31 Dec 1998 **1 Oct 1997-30 Sep 1999 **1 Oct 1995-30 Sep 1997

List of commanders

*Lt Col Robert Preston (Misawa - 1st Commander) *Lt Col Richard Lucas (Misawa) *Lt Col Jim Maestas *Lt Col Jeff Hokett, 1 June 2007 *Lt Col Joseph Prue, 26 May 2009 *Lt Col

Sam Johnson Samuel Robert Johnson (October 11, 1930 – May 27, 2020) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for in Congress from 1991 to 2019. He was a member of the Republican Party. In October and November 2015, he was the act ...

, 13 June 2011 *Lt Col Matthew S. Cantore, 14 June 2013 *Lt Col Zachary S. Owen, 13 February 2015 *Lt Col Kevin Amsden, 6 April 2017 *Lt Col William Burich, 31 May 2019 *Lt Col Anna Gunn-Golkin, 14 June 2021 *Lt Col David Heinz, 22 June 2023

References

{{USAF Space Command Squadrons of the United States Space Force Military units and formations in Colorado