Established in 1982 with its primary focus on space operations related to missile warning systems, launch operations, and satellite control and surveillance, the Air Force Space Command has seen its mission evolve over the subsequent decades. Today, the Command’s primary mission is providing “resilient, defendable and affordable space capabilities for the Air Force, Joint Force and the Nation.” For example, the exigencies of Operation Desert Storm led to the creation of the Space Warfare Center (now called the Space Innovation and Development Center) to ensure space capabilities were fully leveraged to benefit warfighters on the ground.
In 1993, with the inactivation of Strategic Air Command, Air Force Space Command assumed command and control of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. And in 2005, the Air Force expanded the Command’s mission to include cyberspace operations, leading to the activation of the 24th Air Force in August 2009. To accommodate this new role, Space Command transferred its ICBM forces to Air Force Global Strike Command, which placed all the Air Force’s nuclear forces under one command. And ss the scope of cyber operations began to grow almost exponentially, however, the decision was made to transfer Space Command’s cyber mission to Air Combat Command, allowing Space Command to focus on achieving and maintaining space superiority.
The Air Force Space Command emblem used on the patch show a globe at the center, with latitudinal and longitudinal lines indicating the worldwide nature of space operations. Circling the globe are two ellipses mimicking the path of satellites in earth orbits, and the dark blue background and stars recall the space environment. And a deltoid superimposed over the globe represents the launch vehicles transporting satellites into orbit, as well as the upward thrust of the Air Force into space.