Members of the 4th Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., are commencing tests with the Air Force’s second Advanced Extremely High Frequency military communications satellite, according to Schriever officials. The satellite reached its intended orbital perch on Aug. 27 after a four-month journey following its launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., they said in a Sept. 12 release. While Space and Missile Systems Center officials in Los Angeles will continue to hold satellite control authority for AEHF-2 during this testing phase, the airmen of the 4th SOPS will be involved since they control AEHF-1 and some of the testing will involve coordination between AEHF-1 and AEHF-2, such as evaluating the two satellites’ ability to crosslink with each other and with the legacy Milstar communications satellites, said the officials. “It’s almost impossible to test these types of satellite[s] on the ground because of how they’ll be crosslinked together and how they will interact in space,” said 1st Lt. Kathleen Giegler, 4th SOPS payload engineer. (Schriever report by Scott Prater)
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
