While the U.S. is still the world’s leader in space, China can move much faster and the U.S. Space Force needs to adapt with new acquisition processes to stay ahead, the new service’s No. 2 said March. 16. Gen. David D. Thompson, the Space Force’s ...
Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson is nominated to formally become the Vice Chief of Space Operations, the Space Force’s second-highest officer, and is up for a promotion to four-star general, the Pentagon said Aug. 7. Thompson took the job of vice commander of Air Force ...
The Space Force announced June 30 it will organize its personnel into three levels: squadrons at the bottom, then newly named “deltas” instead of wings, and field commands at the top. Each will start standing up as smaller organizations this summer. The decision is an ...
Some space watchers say NASA’s return to launching astronauts from U.S. soil this week could shape the far future of military manned spaceflight, though others say the new Space Force doesn’t need to aim for “boots on the Moon.” SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will carry ...
A top Space Force official here argued the case for why the new service needed to become a standalone organization, praising Airmen at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., for their role in warning U.S. troops overseas about the recent Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi ...
For most, space policy is still more science fiction than reality—the stuff of a galaxy far, far away. People imagine laser-toting gunships and interplanetary bases, not airmen at consoles adjusting satellites in orbit. Those perceptions have persisted through about 18 months of pressure from the ...
Gen. Jay Raymond was formally sworn in as the inaugural Chief of Space Operations Jan. 14 at a White House ceremony led by Vice President Mike Pence. “The President and Congress have given us a great opportunity to build the force we need to respond ...
Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center boss Lt. Gen. John Thompson appeared optimistic about the future of acquisition under the Space Force, despite industry's concerns about changes foreshadowed in the draft fiscal 2020 defense policy bill. Bipartisan, bicameral language would create a space acquisition ...
Many factors combined to slow the creation of an independent armed force for space before it took off this year: politics, higher legislative priorities, military officials trying to protect the piece of the pie they already had. But none proved more challenging than the Air ...