4th Appellate District, Division 3
Eileen C. Moore
Associate Justice
California Courts of Appeal
We hear a lot about the Space Force as another branch of the military. But what is it?
Vice President Mike Pence argued that space had become crowded and adversarial due to advancements by China and Russia, emphasizing that American presence was not enough. He said American dominance was required. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, was of the opinion the United States could no longer take space for granted. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper called the formation of the Space Force a strategic imperative to protect our nation from hostile actions. With bipartisan support, Congress approved the formation of the Space Force. On Dec. 20, 2019, President Donald Trump signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act establishing the United States Space Force to focus on space domain. 10 U.S.C. § 9081
Just as the Marine Corps operates as a separate branch within the Department of the Navy, the United States Space Force is a separate and distinct branch of the military within the Department of the Air Force. The Space Force was the first established military branch since the establishment of the Air Force in 1947. The Space Force operates under the Secretary of the Air Force. The highest military position in the Space Force is Chief of Space Operations, now held by General B. Chance Saltzman.
The military realized that space is critical to our national security. It also appreciated that the everyday life of Americans involve space. Satellites, GPS services [the Global Positioning System], weather patterns, television broadcasts, cell phones and other capabilities are woven into our daily lives. Protecting our national security, as well as our infrastructure, requires knowing about and being involved in space.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] is a civil agency that focuses on developing resources for education, exploration, innovation and research. Its most recent mission on April 1, Artemis II, sent four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon with the long-term goal of setting up a post on the moon. Though NASA is a civil agency, the United States military was involved throughout. On April 10, the whole world watched as the Navy brought the four Artemis II crew members back to the recovery ship, the USS John P. Murtha. The other branches of the United States military [Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Space Force] also provided critical support for the mission.
The International Space Station [ISS] is a civilian research laboratory governed by an international agreement. It is a collaborative project involving 15 primary nations: United States, Canada, Russia, Japan, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research [NCAR] is a federally funded research center that uses advanced supercomputing, atmospheric aircraft and ground radar to understand Earth's climate, weather patterns and solar physics. By developing sophisticated global models, NCAR helps the scientific community predict severe weather, track air pollution and forecast the impacts of climate change. The ISS and the NCAR work together to a certain extent. For example, the ISS collects orbital climate and solar data from space that NCAR feeds directly into its supercomputing models to improve global weather forecasting and protect astronauts from radiation.
The Space Force, on the other hand, is very different from a civil agency or research laboratory. It is a military service branch centered around the vital capabilities needed to defend United States interests and freedom in space.
Before the Space Force
The Western Development Division [WDD] was created in 1954 to respond to the Soviet Union's nuclear threat. In 1955, the WDD was assigned to head the nation's first satellite program. Over the years, the WDD's name changed several times before becoming the Space Systems Command [SSC]. General Bernard Schriever, often called "father of Air Force space," predicted in 1957 that future battles would be fought in space and that space superiority would be critical to national safety.
During the 1950s, Schriever and Gen. Curtis E. LeMay disagreed about the area of ballistic missiles. Schriever believed in them; LeMay preferred manned bombers. Schriever had the backing of the Air Staff and would ultimately prevail in this battle. In addition, the thermonuclear breakthrough in the early 1950s meant that warheads could be built that were far more powerful but also a fraction of the size of early atomic devices. Later, LeMay grudgingly admitted that Schriever had been right.
Getting the Space Force going
On March 23, 2020, the Secretary of the Air Force approved the transfer of 25 units into the Space Force. On May 1, 2020, active-duty Air Force officers and enlisted personnel were able to submit applications to transfer to the Space Force. About 8,500 volunteered to transfer, and the Space Force selected 6,000 space operators over the next year. In mid-2021, members of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps transferred to the Space Force. The Space Force now has 14,000 personnel.
Members of the Space Force are called Guardians because they protect the people and the interests of the United States and its allies.
The logo selected is a delta symbol with an embedded North Star to "serve as our guiding light as we build a new service to secure the space domain." The motto of the Space Force is "Semper Supra" [always above].
Pence presided over a renaming ceremony on Dec. 9, 2020. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was renamed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Patrick Air Force Base was renamed Patrick Space Force Station. They are both barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida. Later, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs was renamed Peterson Space Force Base.
The mission and operations of the Space Force
The mission of the Space Force is to secure our nation's interests in, from and to space. The Space Force is responsible for organizing, training and equipping Guardians to conduct global space operations that enhance the way our joint and coalition forces fight while also offering decision makers military options to achieve national objectives. The branch's undertaking is multifaceted:
Satellites
The operations of the Space Force include developing and defending communication satellites. Satellites are largely and essentially computers in space but can be any object that orbits a larger body in space, either naturally like the moon or manmade like the International Space Station. Artificial satellites are launched by rockets to perform tasks such as communication, weather forecasting, GPS navigation and scientific research.
Cybersecurity
The Space Force protects satellites from being hacked or jammed by adversaries. It accomplishes this protection by engineering global cybersecurity networks. It also protects ground control stations that send commands up to satellites by guarding antennas, computers and networks involved with satellites on earth.
Rocket launches
Rocket launches serve to propel satellites beyond earth's atmosphere into deep space. The Space Force manages all military space launch operations. It secures contracts with companies like SpaceX to guarantee that military satellites reach orbit.
On June 30, 2020, the Space Force launched a SpaceX rocket at Cape Canaveral. It was the first time a launch booster was recovered for re-use. Three weeks later, eight women made history as the first all-female space operations crew to gain satellite control acceptance of a satellite. On Feb. 24, 2021, the first all-African American team of space operators carried out an orbital warfare mission.
Space debris
The Space Force tracks objects in orbit to protect satellites by using radar and optical sensors to monitor debris and ensure the safety of space assets.
Currently there is an aging space telescope that has been rapidly sinking toward earth at an accelerating speed. The Space Force is providing the hyper-accurate data required for a private commercial spacecraft to perform the physical rescue.
GPS
The Space Force is responsible for the development and operation of GPS. It monitors, manages and secures GPS satellites, ensuring global positioning for both military and civilian users.
Aligning space clocks with earth time
GPS satellites have to be constantly adjusted so that their clocks will align with earth time. A global network of automated monitor stations is tracked by the Space Force. It measures the exact arrival time of satellite signals.
Missile warning
The Space Force actively deploys systems capable of tracking high-speed maneuvering threats. It has modernized and expanded the "unblinking eye" in space that watches for missile launches.
Battlefield operations
At least half of the United States' critical infrastructure depends on space. Guardians must control space to ensure our freedom. But because space also matters to our adversaries, the Space Force must be ready to deny hostile space power. Guardians are considered to be warfighters. Less than a month after the Space Force was created, it provided life-saving warnings when Iran launched ballistic missiles toward Al Asad Airbase in Iraq.
In May 2026, Military.com published an interview of retired Major General Brook Leonard. In it, Gen. Leonard said that commercial satellite imagery has been used to expose troop movements and shape global narratives in near real time, changing the information environment before traditional military responses can even unfold.
With regard to the U.S. war with Iran, Gen. Salzman touted the Space Force's combat electronic warfare attacks. He stated: "We aren't just talking about theories or plans anymore. We're talking about real operational combat, space effects and the Guardians who deliver them." The war with Iran's official code name is Operation Epic Fury. In it, the Space Force deployed electronic warfare to jam and disrupt Iran's air defense sensors and communications networks. Guardians tracked ballistic missile launches.
Lawsuit
In October 2025, Colorado Attorney General Philip J. Weiser filed a lawsuit to block the relocation of U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama. The complaint begins: "President Trump's decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to punish the State of Colorado for allowing eligible voters to vote by mail is unconstitutional. When issuing his decision, the President could not have been clearer about his motivations, announcing that '[t]he problem I have with Colorado' is that 'they do mail-in voting' and that this 'played a big factor' in the decision. The Constitution does not permit the Executive to punish or retaliate against States for lawfully exercising sovereign powers reserved for the States, as President Trump and the Executive Branch have unlawfully done here." 2025 WL 3027970
On June 17, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the action. No hearing date yet. The case is currently set for trial next April.
Dead or missing scientists
In February 2026, retired U.S. Air Force Major General William "Neil" McCasland, former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, disappeared from his New Mexico home. Also missing since June 2025 is Monica Reza, an aerospace materials engineer who directed the Materials Processing Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; reporting has linked the two through a rocket alloy Reza helped develop that McCasland's lab later tested, though no direct collaboration between them has been confirmed.
President Trump directed federal agencies to investigate potential links after meeting with advisers on the matter. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that the FBI is spearheading a broad federal probe, actively collaborating with the Department of Energy, the Department of War, and local law enforcement to determine if there is a connection or national security threat. The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee Chairman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), independently launched its own congressional investigation, formally demanding records and briefings from NASA, the Pentagon, the FBI, and the Department of Energy regarding the 11 affected researchers who held high-level security clearances.
The Defense Department, however, has pushed back on the premise: in response to the committee's inquiry, it told investigators there are no active national security investigations of any reported missing person who was a current or former clearance holder involved in special access programs.
One case has since been resolved, though not reassuringly. Melissa Casias, a Los Alamos National Laboratory administrative worker who had been missing since June 2025, was found dead in June in New Mexico's Carson National Forest, with a handgun recovered near her remains. Authorities have not determined a cause or manner of death, and the investigation remains open. McCasland and Reza remain missing.
Conclusion
When the Space Force was first launched, television comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel made great fun of the notion. Kimmel showed a farcical film called "Space Force II." Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show said the Space Force served as a new way to funnel money into the military-industrial complex. Stephen Colbert said Trump likely got the idea from a Buzz Lightyear Happy Meal toy.
At the five-year anniversary of the Space Force, Gen. Salzman said it was able to focus on the space domain the way the Army focuses on land, the Air Force focuses on the air and the Navy focuses on the sea. Salzman added: "We've connected over 100,000 active satellite communications users; we've deployed electronic warfare capabilities to 10 nations for a collective 2,551 days. In 2024 alone, we supported 45 exercises and tracked 226 successful space launches, and we cataloged 3,345 space objects."
At the five-year mark, the financial publication Business Insider wrote that the Space Force started as a national joke, but "now it's seen as Donald Trump's best idea."