AFSPC

Space Operations Command (SpOC) is the United States Space Force's space operations, cyber operations, and intelligence field command. It is headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado and serves as the U.S. Space Force's service component to United States Space Command. Space Operations Command consists of Space Operations Command West, its mission deltas, and garrison commands.

Space Operations Command was established on 1 September 1982 as Space Command (SPACECOM), which was the first dedicated space command in the United States Armed Forces. On 15 November 1985, Space Command was renamed Air Force Space Command (AFSPC or AFSPACECOM) to distinguish it from U.S. Space Command, Naval Space Command, and Army Space Command. On 20 December 2019, following the establishment of the United States Space Force as an independent service, Air Force Space Command was also redesignated as United States Space Force (USSF) and served as the transitional headquarters of the new service, but remained a component of the U.S. Air Force. On 21 October 2020, United States Space Force was redesignated as Space Operations Command and officially transitioned from a U.S. Air Force major command to a U.S. Space Force field command.

History

Establishing Space Command

The Air Force's space program began in 1954 with the establishment of the Western Development Division under Brigadier General Bernard Schriever. However, its space operations were fragmented across several different Air Force major commands. Aerospace Defense Command was responsible for space surveillance and missile warning, Strategic Air Command operated weather satellites, and Air Force Systems Command, primarily responsible for research and development, also had operational responsibilities for operating communication satellites and space launch.https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/AUPress/Books/B_0063_SPIRES_BRADLEY_STURDEVANT_ECKERT_BEYOND_HORIZONS.pdf

As Air Force space programs began to mature in the 1970s and early 1980s, their disjointed nature presented operational issues. The impending deployment of the Space Shuttle in partnership with NASA prompted major internal competition between the Air Force's major commands for internal control and to transform itself into an operational major command. Air Force Systems Command's Space and Missile Systems Organization had responsibility for military development of the shuttle, but it also sought operational responsibility as it was responsible for space launches. Aerospace Defense Command argued that its responsibility for the space surveillance system gave it the requisite experience required for shuttle operations. Traditional air defense had also lost its importance, and Aerospace Defense Command saw space operations as a means to preserve its existence. Strategic Air Command and Military Airlift Command, which served as the Air Force's lead on transportation, also argued they should have responsibility. In 1980, Aerospace Defense Command was inactivated as an Air Force major command (although preserved as a specified command within NORAD), with its air defense mission transferred to Tactical Air Command in 1979 and its space assets moved to Strategic Air Command in 1980.

Calls for an independent space command grew within the 1980s, with some in Congress even calling for the Air Force to be reorganized as the U.S. Aerospace Force. On 1 September 1982, the Air Force established Space Command as a major command, creating the first operational space command within the United States Armed Forces.

Unifying Space Forces under Air Force Space Command

When Space Command was established, it was headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado and consisted of the Aerospace Defense Center and Cheyenne Mountain Support Group. In 1983, Strategic Air Command began to transfer its space and missile warning, systems, bases, and units to Space Command, establishing the 1st Space Wing