Space Systems Command
Space Systems Command is the United States Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, and manages the United States' space launch ranges.
Air Research and Development Command was redesignated as Air Force Systems Command in 1961. As part of that reorganization, the Space Systems Division was established on 20 Mar 1961 and organized on 1 Apr 1961. In 1967, the Space Systems Division was reorganized as the Space and Missile Systems Organization, absorbing the Ballistic Systems Division's mission. In 1979, the Space and Missile Systems Organization was renamed the Space Division and divested itself of ballistic missile development. In 1989, the Space Division returned to its historic name of the Space Systems Division and regained its ballistic missile development role in 1990.
With the merger of Air Force Systems Command and Air Force Logistics Command in 1992, the Space Systems Division was redesignated the Space and Missile Systems Center. In 2001 the SMC was reassigned to Air Force Space Command, remaining attached through its redesignation as Space Operations Command in October 2020. On 22 April 2021, it changed status from a U.S. Air Force unit to a U.S. Space Force unit and was reassigned from Space Operations Command to Headquarters United States Space Force. On 13 August 2021, the Space and Missile Systems Center was upgraded into a Space Force field command, named Space Systems Command.
History
Following the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union in October 1957, the Eisenhower administration attempted to centralize all military and civil space programs in the Advanced Research Projects Agency. Responsibility for those programs was returned to the individual services in September 1959. The U.S. Army was designated lead service for communication satellites, the U.S. Navy for navigation satellites, and the U.S. Air Force for reconnaissance and surveillance satellites and space launch vehicles. This split arrangement lasted until March 1961, when Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara assigned the Air Force a near‑monopoly on military space development, with the exception of reconnaissance programs, which were passed to the National Reconnaissance Office in 1961.Space and missile development 1961-1990
On 1 April 1961, Air Research and Development Command was reorganized as Air Force Systems Command. Space and missile programs had grown to the point where the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division was split on 1 April 1961, with space systems under the Space Systems Division and missile programs under the Ballistic Systems Division.The Space Systems Division, still located at Los Angeles Air Force Station, carried on the Ballistic Missile Division's development of the Titan III space launch vehicle, which was initiated in 1961 and first flow on 1 September 1964. The Titan IIIA consisted of a modified Titan II ballistic missile with a Transtage upper stage. The Titan IIIC was first launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on 18 June 1965 and used two large solid rocket booster. The Space Systems Division also developed the Titan IIIB and provided NASA with Titan II GLVs for Project Gemini and developed the Agena target vehicle.
In 1963, the Space Systems Division began the Defense Support Program, which was intended to succeed where MIDAS failed and create an orbital constellation of infrared missile warning sensors. It also continued developing the Vela nuclear detonation detection satellites. The Vela satellite network came out of an Air Force Ballistic Missile Division–Atomic Energy Commission–NASA agreement in 1960 to develop a high-altitude nuclear detection system to ensure compliance with the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Atomic Energy Commission flew test detectors on Space Systems Division Discoverer satellites and the first Vela satellites were launched on an Atlas-Agena on 16 October 1963.
The Space Systems Division also began development on the Defense Meteorological Support Program. The DMSP Block 1 satellites were launched on a Scout X-2 rocket in 1962, however the other four launch attempts failed. Further DMSP Block I launches were conducted on the Thor-Agena and Thor-Burner boosters. The Thor-Burner also launched the DMSP Block II and DMSP Block III satellites, which provided weather reconnaissance during the Vietnam War. The Block 4 satellites first launched in 1966. The Army Signal Corps' project SCORE, launched by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division in 1958, was the world's first communications satellite but intended as a proof of concept. The Army Signal Corps followed by launching Courier 1B on an Air Force Ballistic Missile Division Thor-Ablestar in 1960, but it failed after 17 days in orbit. The Space Systems Division began development on the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program in 1962, launching constellations from 1966 to 1968. the IDCSP, also known as the Defense Satellite Communications Program Phase I once operational, transmitted both voice and images to support the United States during the Vietnam War.
Although almost all crewed spacecraft programs went to NASA after its creation in 1958, the Air Force retained the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar program under the Wright Air Development Center, with the Titan IIIC initially intended as its booster. The program, however, was canceled in 1963 when it was determined that the Blue Gemini program would better satisfy its objectives. However, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara announced the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, which was assigned to the Space Systems Division by General Bernard Schriever. Douglas Aircraft Company was responsible for the spacecraft, and the Space Systems Division was developing the Titan IIIM booster. However, the program only had a single test flight, OPS 0855, before being canceled in 1969.
The Space Systems Division also was responsible for anti-satellite weapons development. The first United States ASAT system was the Army's Nike Zeus missiles located at Kwajalein Missile Range and declared operational in 1963, but shut down in 1964 by the Defense Department, which favored the Air Force's ASAT efforts. The Space Systems Division's Program 437 used Thor boosters and nuclear warheads to destroy a satellite or space-based weapon from Johnston Atoll. The system was declared operational in 1964 and turned over to Aerospace Defense Command, however it was put on standby in 1970 and shut down in 1975. Program 437 also include the Program 437AP configuration, which give it the capability to inspect satellites. The Space Systems Division also managed the Space Test Program, known as the Space Experiments Support Program until 1971, for the Defense Department since it began in 1965.
In 1965, Space Systems Division replaced the 6594th Aerospace Test Wing with the Air Force Satellite Control Facility. Space launches were also conducted by the Space Systems Division, with the 6595th Aerospace Test Wing responsible for Vandenberg Air Force Base launches and the 6555th Aerospace Test Wing responsible for launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Space and Missile Systems Organization
On 1 July 1967, the Space Systems Division and Ballistic Systems Division were remerged, forming the Space and Missile Systems Office. This remerger was prompted by economic reasons and SAMSO was located as Los Angeles Air Force Station. SAMSO did not start any new ballistic missile programs, but did oversee the replacement of the Minuteman I with the Minuteman II, which had improved range and guidance, and the Minuteman III, which more penetration aids to counter anti-ballistic missile defense systems and could be equipped with three multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles.The Titan III space launch vehicle family was also expanded to include the Titan IIID and Titan IIIE, which were used to support NASA's launch of the Viking program in 1976. The Space and Missile Systems Organization was also the Department of Defense lead for the Space Transportation System, which would be developed into the Space Shuttle. As part of its contribution, it built a Space Shuttle launch and recovery site at Vandenberg Air Force Base for polar launches and also developed the Inertial Upper Stage.
The Space and Missile Systems Organization also oversaw the first launch of the Defense Support Program in 1970 on a Titan IIIC and the development and launch of the Advanced Vela satellites on Titan IIICs in 1967, 1969, and 1970. Three Defense Meteorological Support Program Block 5A, Block 5B, Block 5C, and Block 5D-1 satellites were also launched in the 1970s.
Although not an Air Force program, the Navy's Transit satellite system was the world's first satellite navigation constellation and started development in 1958. It was first launched on an Air Force Ballistic Missile Division booster in 1960 and achieved initial operational capability in 1964 and full operational capability in 1968. Transit used three operational satellites to enable users on ships and submarines to calculate their location in two dimensions and continued to operate until 1996. The Navy and Air Force both began follow on programs, with the Space and Missile Systems Organization developing Project 621B, envisioning a constellation of 20 satellites in synchronous inclined orbits. The Navy's Timation program instead envisioned a constellation of 21 to 27 satellites in medium altitude orbits. In 1973, Deputy Secretary of Defense William P. Clements directed the two programs merge into the Space and Missile Systems Organization's Global Positioning System, which used Program 621B's signal structure and frequencies and the medium earth orbits of Timation.
The Space and Missile Systems Organization also led the development of the Defense Satellite Communications System Phase II. DSCS II had increased communications
capacity, greater transmission strength, and longer lifetimes. As well, they also had steerable antennas. The first developmental contract was issued in 1969 and the first launch to geosynchronous orbit occurred in 1971, with the full constellation being formed in 1979. SAMSO also operationalized the Lincoln Experimental Satellites and Tactical Communications Satellite, building the Fleet Satellite Communications System. Although the FLTSATCOM program was owned by the Navy, SAMSO managed the satellite acquisition, which started in 1971. It also managed the Air Force Satellite Communications system which became operational in 1978 and relied on transponders on FLTSATCOM and enabled the Air Force control over its strategic forces. SAMSO also managed the acquisition and launch of Skynet 1, which was launched on behalf of the Royal Air Force in 1969 and 1970. SAMSO also assisted the United Kingdom with the development of Skynet 2, which launched in 1974 and was turned over to the Royal Air Force in 1975. SAMSO also acquired and launched the NATO II and NATO III satellites. DSCS II, Skynet, and the NATO satellites were designed to be compatible with each other.
During the 1970s, the Space and Missile Systems Organization began a follow-on ASAT program to Program 437 that did not use nuclear warheads. The first, Project Spike, used a two-staged missile launched from a Convair F-106 Delta Dart. Project Spike did not enter development, however it served as a proof of concept for the Air-launched ASAT, which entered development in 1976.
In 1970, SAMSO's 6555th Aerospace Test Wing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station became the 6555th Aerospace Test Group and realigned under its 6595th Aerospace Test Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The 6595th Aerospace Test Wing was then realigned under SAMSO's new Space and Missile Test Center, which oversaw launches at both Vandenberg Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and operated the Western Test Range. In 1977, it gained the Eastern Test Range. On 1 August 1971, the 6592nd Support Group for Los Angeles Air Force Station was redesignated the 6592nd Air Base Group.