112-466: EWS-G1 (Electro-optical Infrared Weather System Geostationary) is a weather satellite of the U.S. Space Force , formerly GOES-13 (also known as GOES-N before becoming operational) and part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. On 14 April 2010, GOES-13 became the operational weather satellite for GOES-East. It
224-648: A Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force in the mid-term, which would evolve into a Department of the Space Force in the long-term. The Rumsfeld Commission expected the transition from Air Force Space Command to a fully independent Space Force to occur in between 2006 and 2011. Air Force leadership reacted extremely poorly to the Rumsfeld Commission's recommendations. The day after
336-399: A commission to examine the organization and management of national security space. The Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization, better known as the 2001 Space Commission or the Rumsfeld Commission, released its report in 2001. The Rumsfeld Commission noted the strong risk of a "Space Pearl Harbor," harking back to Imperial Japan's surprise attack on
448-457: A full color U.S. flag , sparking jokes about fighting on the forest moon of Endor from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi , while its distinctive service dress drew comparisons to Colonial Fleet uniforms from Battlestar Galactica or Starfleet uniforms from Star Trek . While the Space Force noted that its camouflage combat uniform was appropriate since space operators deploy to combat zones on
560-564: A fully independent Space Force by 2011. While the United States' focus shifted from space to counterterrorism, the Russian Armed Forces and Chinese People's Liberation Army realized the military benefits that could be gleaned from space, as well as the incredible reliance the United States put on its space forces. Throughout the 2000s, Russian and Chinese space and counterspace capabilities began to increase. In 2001,
672-543: A global space. Through space, the U.S. military and its allies can see, communicate, and navigate. Global mission operations also protect U.S. forces on Earth through early warning of incoming missiles and other types of attack. The Space Force describes global mission operations as allowing the rest of the U.S. military to defend the air, land, and sea. Missions that support global mission operations include missile warning , satellite communications , and positioning, navigation, and timing . Assured space access ensures that
784-470: A military responsibility until the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created in 1958. The military shifted from conducting their own space exploration programs to supporting NASA's, providing the agency with its astronauts and space launch vehicles , while also conducting astronaut recovery and supporting space launches from the Air Force's Eastern Range . The Air Force
896-587: A more intense storm). Infrared pictures depict ocean eddies or vortices and map currents such as the Gulf Stream which are valuable to the shipping industry. Fishermen and farmers are interested in knowing land and water temperatures to protect their crops against frost or increase their catch from the sea. Even El Niño phenomena can be spotted. Using color-digitized techniques, the gray shaded thermal images can be converted to color for easier identification of desired information. Each meteorological satellite
1008-777: A much better resolution than their geostationary counterparts due their closeness to the Earth. The United States has the NOAA series of polar orbiting meteorological satellites, presently NOAA-15, NOAA-18 and NOAA-19 ( POES ) and NOAA-20 and NOAA-21 ( JPSS ). Europe has the Metop -A, Metop -B and Metop -C satellites operated by EUMETSAT . Russia has the Meteor and RESURS series of satellites. China has FY -3A, 3B and 3C. India has polar orbiting satellites as well. The United States Department of Defense 's Meteorological Satellite ( DMSP ) can "see"
1120-519: A new military service...would be a dramatic step. Perhaps a "Space Corps" would be a step toward a Space Force. Maybe the Air Force will preempt these dramatic changes by truly becoming the "Space and Air Force." The idea of a separate service for space originated in the 1960s. Military space activities were briefly consolidated under the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1958, loosely centralizing space activities under
1232-447: A number of changes over its predecessors in support of its mission to gather data for weather forecasting and climate monitoring. The MTG satellites are three-axis stabilised rather than spin stabilised, giving greater flexibility in satellite and instrument design. The MTG system features separate Imager and Sounder satellite models that share the same satellite bus, with a baseline of three satellites - two Imagers and one Sounder - forming
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#17327797884221344-723: A scatterometer and a radio-occultation instrument. The satellite service module is based on the SPOT-5 bus, while the payload suite is a combination of new and heritage instruments from both Europe and the US under the Initial Joint Polar System agreement between EUMETSAT and NOAA. A second generation of Metop satellites ( MetOp-SG ) is in advanced development with launch of the first satellite foreseen in 2025. As with MTG, Metop-SG will launch on Ariane-6 and comprise two satellite models to be operated in pairs in replacement of
1456-524: A second imager satellite will operate from 9.5-deg East to perform a Rapid Scanning mission over Europe. MTG continues Meteosat support to the ARGOS and Search and Rescue missions. MTG-I1 launched in one of the last Ariane-5 launches, with the subsequent satellites planned to launch in Ariane-6 when it enters service. In 2006, the first European low-Earth orbit operational meteorological satellite, Metop -A
1568-472: A separate military department, to be known as the Department of the Space Force. The Space Force is currently organized as a service under the Department of the Air Force , more closely mirroring the concept of a Space Corps rather than a fully independent Space Force. Senator Bob Smith , the 2001 Rumsfeld Commission, and 2008 Allard Commission each envisioned that a Space Corps would first be created under
1680-519: A single organization. The Air Force, Army, and Navy feared that it would evolve into a "fourth service" for space, before authorities were returned to the service. The first direct call for a U.S. Space Force occurred in 1982, prior to Air Force Space Command 's establishment or the Strategic Defense Initiative 's public announcement. As part of a report recommending the acceleration U.S. space-based laser weapon development,
1792-579: A thruster leak. After the problem with GOES-12 cleared, it resumed operations, and GOES-13 was deactivated again. It was also briefly activated in mid-May 2009 when GOES-12 developed another thruster problem, however, it did not need to take over operations, and was deactivated by the end of the month. In April 2010, GOES-13 replaced GOES-12 as GOES-East at 75.0° West. GOES-13 served actively as GOES-East from April 2010 to December 2017. In December 2017, GOES-16 replaced GOES-13 as GOES-East. On 14 December 2017, GOES-13's direct (GOES VARiable transmission format) GVAR
1904-506: A trained analyst to determine cloud heights and types, to calculate land and surface water temperatures, and to locate ocean surface features. Infrared satellite imagery can be used effectively for tropical cyclones with a visible eye pattern, using the Dvorak technique , where the difference between the temperature of the warm eye and the surrounding cold cloud tops can be used to determine its intensity (colder cloud tops generally indicate
2016-462: A valuable asset in such situations. Nighttime photos also show the burn-off in gas and oil fields. Atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles have been taken by weather satellites since 1969. Not all weather satellites are direct imagers . Some satellites are sounders that take measurements of a single pixel at a time. They have no horizontal spatial resolution but often are capable or resolving vertical atmospheric layers . Soundings along
2128-718: Is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asynchronously), or geostationary (hovering over the same spot on the equator ). While primarily used to detect the development and movement of storm systems and other cloud patterns, meteorological satellites can also detect other phenomena such as city lights, fires, effects of pollution, auroras , sand and dust storms , snow cover, ice mapping, boundaries of ocean currents , and energy flows. Other types of environmental information are collected using weather satellites. Weather satellite images helped in monitoring
2240-455: Is an historic event and a strategic imperative for our Nation. Space has become so important to our way of life, our economy and our national security that we must be prepared as a Nation to protect it from hostile actions. As the U.S. Space Force was established on 20 December 2019, General Jay Raymond , commander of U.S. Space Command and Air Force Space Command , became its first member and chief of space operations . Air Force Space Command
2352-518: Is classified in accordance with ITU Radio Regulations (article 1) as follows: Fixed service (article 1.20) The allocation of radio frequencies is provided according to Article 5 of the ITU Radio Regulations (edition 2012). In order to improve harmonisation in spectrum utilisation, the majority of service-allocations stipulated in this document were incorporated in national Tables of Frequency Allocations and Utilisations which
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#17327797884222464-446: Is designed to use one of two different classes of orbit: geostationary and polar orbiting . Geostationary weather satellites orbit the Earth above the equator at altitudes of 35,880 km (22,300 miles). Because of this orbit , they remain stationary with respect to the rotating Earth and thus can record or transmit images of the entire hemisphere below continuously with their visible-light and infrared sensors. The news media use
2576-494: Is organized, trained, and equipped to: The Department of Defense further defines the specified functions of the Space Force to: The Space Force further breaks down its mission into three core functions, which align directly to its mission statement to "secure our Nation's interests in, from, and to space:" Space superiority defends against space and counterspace threats by protecting spacecraft in space or protecting against attacks enabled by adversary spacecraft, requiring that
2688-411: Is what has given humanity the capability to make accurate and preemptive space weather forecasts since the late 2010s. In Europe, the first Meteosat geostationary operational meteorological satellite, Meteosat-1, was launched in 1977 on a Delta launch vehicle. The satellite was a spin-stabilised cylindrical design, 2.1 m in diameter and 3.2 m tall, rotating at approx. 100 rpm and carrying
2800-487: Is with-in the responsibility of the appropriate national administration. The allocation might be primary, secondary, exclusive, and shared. United States Space Force As U.S. Space Force The United States Space Force ( USSF ) is the United States Armed Forces ' space service and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States . It is one of two independent space forces in
2912-585: The Air Force Research Laboratory . The Space Force also began incorporating space personnel transfers from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps. In 2022, it the Naval Satellite Operations Center and Army's Satellite Operations Brigade transferred to the Space Force, putting satellite communications under a single service for the first time in history. In 2023, it assumed responsibility for
3024-498: The Army Air Forces , tasked General Bernard Schriever to integrate with the scientific community to identify and develop technologies that could be beneficial for the new U.S. Air Force in the next global conflict. Identifying the importance of space, the U.S. Army , U.S. Navy , and U.S. Air Force each started their own separate space and rocket programs. The U.S. Air Force created the first military space organization in
3136-550: The COSPAS-SARSAT Search and Rescue (SAR) and ARGOS Data Collection Platform (DCP) missions. SEVIRI provided an increased number of spectral channels over MVIRI and imaged the full-Earth disc at double the rate. Meteosat-9 was launched to complement Meteosat-8 in 2005, with the second pair consisting of Meteosat-10 and Meteosat-11 launched in 2012 and 2015, respectively. The Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) programme launched its first satellite in 2022, and featured
3248-584: The Cape Canaveral . The launch occurred at 22:11:00 UTC on 24 May 2006. The launch had been delayed significantly due to a number of issues. First, it had been scheduled to fly on a Delta III , but after three consecutive failures on its first three flights, the Delta III was canceled, with GOES launches being transferred to the Delta IV. Further delays were caused after the previous Delta IV launch,
3360-504: The Department of the Navy . The Space Force's three field commands (FLDCOM) are purpose-built for specific activities, aligning to the various institutional responsibilities to organize, train, and equip Guardians. Component field commands (C-FLDCOM) coordinate and integrate space forces into planning and current operations within unified combatant commands . Direct reporting units (DRU) are hubs of innovation and intelligence expertise within
3472-592: The European Commission 's Copernicus programme and fulfils the Sentinel-4 mission to monitor air quality, trace gases and aerosols over Europe hourly at high spatial resolution. Two MTG satellites - one Imager and one Sounder - will operate in close proximity from the 0-deg geostationary location over western Africa to observe the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, while
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3584-502: The Government Accountability Office recommended the U.S. Air Force be reorganized as the U.S. Aerospace Force or that an independent U.S. Space Force be created. Ultimately, a Congressional proposal to rename the U.S. Air Force as the U.S. Aerospace Force and speculation that President Ronald Reagan may announce the creation of a U.S. Space Force accelerated Air Force plans to create a space command within
3696-600: The Kosmos 1408 and putting the International Space Station at risk. The Space Force is organized into a headquarters staff that provides leadership and guidance for the force; field commands that are responsible for organizing, training, and equipping Guardians; deltas that support field commands and are specialized by mission area; and squadrons which specialize in acquisitions, cyberspace operations, engineering, intelligence, and space operations. At
3808-995: The Meteosat Visible and Infrared Imager (MVIRI) instrument. Successive Meteosat first generation satellites were launched, on European Ariane-4 launchers from Kourou in French Guyana, up to and including Meteosat-7 which acquired data from 1997 until 2017, operated initially by the European Space Agency and later by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). Japan has launched nine Himawari satellites beginning in 1977. Starting in 1988 China has launched twenty-one Fengyun satellites. The Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites - also spin stabilised although physically larger and twice
3920-669: The Russian Space Forces were reestablished as an independent arm and in 2007, China conducted a destructive anti-satellite missile test causing the single largest space debris generating event in history. In the aftermath of the Chinese ASAT test, Congress tasked the Allard Commission to reevaluate the Defense Department's space organization and management. The Allard Commission noted that
4032-608: The Secretary of Defense to conduct a periodic review to determine when to recommend the President seek legislation to establish the Department of the Space Force. Following the Space Force's establishment there have been a number of calls to rename the Department of the Air Force to the Department of the Air and Space Forces to reflect its composition of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. Congress previously explored renaming
4144-516: The Space and Missile Systems Center announced the newly renamed EWS-G1 (Electro-optical Infrared Weather System Geostationary) satellite became fully operational with the joint efforts between the U.S. Space Force, NOAA, and NASA. In December 2006, GOES-13 observed a solar flare so intense it damaged its Solar X-ray Imager (SXI). On 12 September 2012, GOES-13 began to return images with an excessive amount of noise. The noise gradually increased to
4256-545: The Space and Missile Systems Center from Air Force Materiel Command to Air Force Space Command and establishing the National Security Space Institute . Ultimately, the Rumsfeld Commission's recommendations remained unfulfilled because of the higher priority placed on counterterrorism after the September 11 attacks , canceling plans for a Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force or
4368-572: The U.S. Air Force , and then the U.S. Space Force. GOES-13 arrived at 61.5° East longitude in mid-February 2020. The satellite was renamed EWS-G1 and became fully operational over the Indian Ocean basin on September 8, 2020. EWS-G2 (GOES-15) was drafted to replace it in September 2023. EWS-G1 was removed from operational service on October 31, 2023. GOES-N was launched aboard a Boeing Delta IV-M+(4,2) rocket, flying from SLC-37B at
4480-563: The Vietnam War , with Air Force weather and communications spacecraft supporting ground, sea, and air operations. During Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, satellite communications were used to conduct command and control for the first time, while Operation El Dorado Canyon and Operation Just Cause marked the first time that major U.S. forces incorporated information from space-based intelligence systems. The Persian Gulf War marked
4592-532: The solar radiation balance of the tropics. Other dust storms in Asia and mainland China are common and easy to spot and monitor, with recent examples of dust moving across the Pacific Ocean and reaching North America. In remote areas of the world with few local observers, fires could rage out of control for days or even weeks and consume huge areas before authorities are alerted. Weather satellites can be
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4704-766: The unified combatant commands , assuming space component responsibility from the U.S. Air Force. One of the primary reasons the Space Force was created was to consolidate space forces from across the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy. In 2020, the Space Training and Readiness Delta (Provisional) was established to form the foundation for Space Training and Readiness Command and incorporate Air Force space units spread across Air Combat Command and Air Education and Training Command , while Space Systems Command incorporated space acquisitions activities across Air Force Materiel Command , although, notably it did not incorporate space research and development conducted by
4816-444: The watersheds of the western United States. This information is gleaned from existing satellites of all agencies of the U.S. government (in addition to local, on-the-ground measurements). Ice floes, packs, and bergs can also be located and tracked from weather spacecraft. Even pollution whether it is nature-made or human-made can be pinpointed. The visual and infrared photos show effects of pollution from their respective areas over
4928-537: The 1962 Defense Satellite Applications Program (DSAP) and the 1964 Soviet Meteor series . TIROS paved the way for the Nimbus program , whose technology and findings are the heritage of most of the Earth-observing satellites NASA and NOAA have launched since then. Beginning with the Nimbus 3 satellite in 1969, temperature information through the tropospheric column began to be retrieved by satellites from
5040-615: The 1980s marked a renaissance for military space operations. Proposals for a U.S. Space Force were first seriously considered during the Reagan Administration as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Congress began exploring establishing a Space Corps or Space Force in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The idea of establishing a Space Force was resurrected in the late 2010s in response to Russian and Chinese military space developments, resulting in
5152-508: The Air Force did successfully field the Program 437 anti-satellite weapon system, which used nuclear Thor missiles to intercept enemy spacecraft. Although most military space forces were organized under the Air Force, they were still fragmented within several different major commands. Recognizing rapid growth of space forces and the need to centralize them under one command, the Air Force established Air Force Space Command in 1982. This
5264-455: The Air Force or a separate Department of the Space Force to unify national security space. It took until 2017 for members of Congress to act on the recommendations of the Rumsfeld and Allard commissions to create a Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force. Representatives Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper unveiled a bipartisan proposal to establish a Space Corps within the Department of
5376-570: The Air Force's major commands. It also consolidated Air Force wings and groups into mission deltas, a formation roughly equivalent to an Army Brigade Combat Team or Air Force expeditionary wing, and space base deltas (briefly known as garrisons), equivalent to an Army garrison or Air Force air base wing. It also began to rename former Air Force bases and station to Space Force bases and station, starting with Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . It also established component field commands to serve as Space Force components at
5488-465: The Air Force, however it experienced significant opposition from the Air Force and Defense Department, failing in the Senate. However, the proposal was resurrected in 2018 when President Donald Trump publicly endorsed the creation of a Space Force and directed the Defense Department to reverse its opposition and develop plans for its establishment. The Trump Administration plan for the U.S. Space Force
5600-542: The Army's Joint Tactical Ground Station , putting all space-based missile warning under the Space Force. The Space Force's first significant combat action occurred less than a month after its establishment, providing missile warning when Iran launched missile strikes against U.S. troops at Al Asad Airbase on 7 January 2020. In 2021, the Russian Federation conducted an anti-satellite weapons test, destroying
5712-526: The Commission was publicly released Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael E. Ryan declared "an independent Space Force or Corps was not warranted for at least another 50 years." General Ryan doubled down over the following year, stating that a Space Force should only be considered once space operations moved beyond Earth orbit. Despite the Air Force's hostility to the idea of a Space Corps or Space Force, they did meet some recommendations by transferring
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#17327797884225824-399: The Department of the Air Force as an interim measure as it grew into a fully independent Space Force. In 2019, Space Policy Directive-4 directed the Space Force be initially established under the Department of the Air Force as the first step towards an independent Department of the Space Force, which would take over the entire space mission from the Department of the Air Force. It also directed
5936-496: The Department of the Air Force is intended to be an interim measure towards a fully independent Department of the Space Force, led by a civilian secretary of the Space Force. Secure our Nation's interests in, from, and to space. The Space Force's statutory responsibilities are outlined in 10 U.S.C. § 9081 and originally introduced in the United States Space Force Act , the Space Force
6048-491: The Department of the Air Force to the Department of the Aerospace Force in 1981 and congressional efforts were made in the 2000s to rename the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps, however both of these proposals failed under opposition from the Defense Department. Space Force advocates have also called for the creation of an undersecretary of the Air Force for space . This provision
6160-636: The Earth alongside the rest of the joint force and it saved money, it did not have a similar response for its service dress uniform, which were described as a "futuristic-looking" design by General Raymond. The Space Force's seal and delta insignia were also incorrectly derided as a rip-off of Star Trek' s Starfleet logo, despite being first adopted as a space symbol by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division in 1962, four years before Star Trek first aired on television in 1966. Star Trek actor William Shatner settled
6272-446: The Earth at a typical altitude of 850 km (530 miles) in a north to south (or vice versa) path, passing over the poles in their continuous flight. Polar orbiting weather satellites are in sun-synchronous orbits , which means they are able to observe any place on Earth and will view every location twice each day with the same general lighting conditions due to the near-constant local solar time . Polar orbiting weather satellites offer
6384-630: The GOES-13 Sounder experienced an anomaly. GOES engineers determined that the Filter Wheel had stopped moving (the filter wheel aligns the infrared detectors with the incoming data) so data were not scanned. All 18 infrared channels were affected; the visible channel (band 19) continued sending usable data until the instruments were shut down in 2018. [REDACTED] Media related to GOES 13 at Wikimedia Commons Weather satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite
6496-835: The Indian Ocean. The Japanese have the MTSAT -2 located over the mid Pacific at 145°E and the Himawari 8 at 140°E. The Europeans have four in operation, Meteosat -8 (3.5°W) and Meteosat-9 (0°) over the Atlantic Ocean and have Meteosat-6 (63°E) and Meteosat-7 (57.5°E) over the Indian Ocean. China currently has four Fengyun (风云) geostationary satellites (FY-2E at 86.5°E, FY-2F at 123.5°E, FY-2G at 105°E and FY-4A at 104.5 °E) operated. India also operates geostationary satellites called INSAT which carry instruments for meteorological purposes. Polar orbiting weather satellites circle
6608-635: The Persian Gulf War being coined "the first Space War." While U.S. space forces supported all U.S. military operations in the 1990s, Operation Allied Force marked the first use of Global Positioning System -aided munitions in a conflict, ushering in a new era of precision bombing. Following the September 11 attacks , U.S. space forces mobilized to respond as part of the Global War on Terrorism Operation Enduring Freedom , Operation Iraqi Freedom , and Operation Inherent Resolve . Creating
6720-524: The Space Force and the Center for Strategic and International Studies has also proposed moving missile defense into the Space Force. The Army also continues to maintain a cadre of Functional Area 40 space operations officers, although over 85% indicated they would transfer to the Space Force if able. The Army is also maintaining the 1st Space Brigade , however the RAND Corporation has conducted
6832-455: The Space Force can deploy and sustain equipment in outer space. This includes space launches as well as controlling and steering spacecraft out of the way of oncoming space debris to avoid collisions. The Space Force describes assured access to space as being able to make sure it can continue launching and conducting space operations 24/7. Missions supporting space access include launch , range control, cyber , and space domain awareness . In
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#17327797884226944-506: The Space Force establish control of the domain. The Space Force describes that at a time and place of the United States' choosing it must be able to assure continued use of spacecraft and deny adversaries use of their spacecraft or space-enabled capabilities. Mission that support space superiority include orbital warfare , electromagnetic warfare , and space battle management . Global mission operations integrates joint functions across all domains (land, air, maritime, space, cyberspace) on
7056-543: The Space Force's establishment on 20 December 2019 during the Trump Administration . The Space Force is organized as part of the Department of the Air Force alongside the U.S. Air Force , its coequal sister service. The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian secretary of the Air Force , while the U.S. Space Force is led by the Chief of Space Operations . The U.S. Space Force's status as part of
7168-551: The Space Force, providing new ideas or deep knowledge about highly specialized issues. While the Space Force's headquarters is in Washington, D.C., the rest of the service is spread across the United States and abroad, across 18 states and territories and 46 bases and installations as of 2024. As the United States Space Force matures, and as national security requires, it will become necessary to create
7280-573: The U.S. Air Force after the two-year negotiation in order to fill a gap in forecasting requirements, but NOAA would continue operating the satellite on behalf of the U.S. Air Force for its remaining life span. GOES-13 was later transferred to the United States Space Force since its establishment in December 2019. After the 7-month drift, GOES-13 eventually arrived at 61.5° East longitude in mid-February 2020. On September 8, 2020,
7392-400: The U.S. Pacific Fleet in 1941. It was extremely critical of the Air Force's treatment of space, with few witnesses expressing confidence that the Air Force would address the requirement to provide space capabilities to the other services or move beyond treating space as just a support capability for air operations. The most significant recommendation of the Rumsfeld Commission was the creation of
7504-529: The U.S., Europe, India, China, Russia, and Japan provide nearly continuous observations for a global weather watch. As early as 1946, the idea of cameras in orbit to observe the weather was being developed. This was due to sparse data observation coverage and the expense of using cloud cameras on rockets. By 1958, the early prototypes for TIROS and Vanguard (developed by the Army Signal Corps ) were created. The first weather satellite, Vanguard 2 ,
7616-416: The United States' dependence on space had increased, but comparatively little...[had] been achieved to make them more secure." It also noted, despite the recommendations of the Rumsfeld Commission, authority and responsibility for national security space remained fragmented and unfocused. Like the 2001 Rumsfeld Commission, the 2008 Allard Commission recommended establishing a Space Corps within the Department of
7728-591: The best of all weather vehicles with its ability to detect objects almost as 'small' as a huge oil tanker . In addition, of all the weather satellites in orbit, only DMSP can "see" at night in the visual. Some of the most spectacular photos have been recorded by the night visual sensor; city lights, volcanoes , fires, lightning, meteors , oil field burn-offs, as well as the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis have been captured by this 720 kilometres (450 mi) high space vehicle's low moonlight sensor. At
7840-578: The eastern Atlantic and most of the Pacific Ocean, which led to significant improvements to weather forecasts . The ESSA and NOAA polar orbiting satellites followed suit from the late 1960s onward. Geostationary satellites followed, beginning with the ATS and SMS series in the late 1960s and early 1970s, then continuing with the GOES series from the 1970s onward. Polar orbiting satellites such as QuikScat and TRMM began to relay wind information near
7952-705: The entire earth. Aircraft and rocket pollution, as well as condensation trails , can also be spotted. The ocean current and low level wind information gleaned from the space photos can help predict oceanic oil spill coverage and movement. Almost every summer, sand and dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa drifts across the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean. GOES-EAST photos enable meteorologists to observe, track and forecast this sand cloud. In addition to reducing visibilities and causing respiratory problems, sand clouds suppress hurricane formation by modifying
8064-431: The establishment of a Space Force if the Air Force could not, or would not, embrace spacepower. An independent Department of the Space Force would ensure that space got its fair share of resources within the Defense Department, with Senator Smith calling for the creation of a Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force as a bridge to a fully independent Space Force. In 2000, Senator Smith led Congress in establishing
8176-457: The existing military space forces across the Army, Navy, and Air Force. While the Navy and Air Force gave up all of their space forces, the greatest resistance to transferring space forces came from the Army. While the Army transferred its satellite communications and missile warning assets, there are still calls for it to transfer 1st Space Brigade and 100th Missile Defense Brigade to the Space Force. The Heritage Foundation has called for
8288-646: The first CORONA reconnaissance mission, recovering 3,000 feet of film from space and imaged 1.65 million square miles of the Soviet Union's territory. Concerned about the development of the Soviet Union's own space forces, the Air Force advocated for a military human spaceflight program. General Curtis LeMay described strong parallels between World War I aviation and 1960s space operations, noting how quickly flying evolved from chivalric and unarmed reconnaissance flights to combat efforts designed to destroy enemy air superiority . General LeMay believed that it
8400-515: The first time that military space forces were unleashed to their fullest extent. Over sixty spacecraft provided 90% of theater communications and command and control for a multinational army of 500,000 troops, weather support for commanders and mission planners, missile warning of Iraqi Scud missile launches, and satellite navigation for air and land forces moving across a featureless desert. The decisive role that space forces played directly enabled an overwhelming Coalition victory and led to
8512-505: The geostationary photos in their daily weather presentation as single images or made into movie loops. These are also available on the city forecast pages of www.noaa.gov (example Dallas, TX). Several geostationary meteorological spacecraft are in operation. The United States' GOES series has three in operation: GOES-15 , GOES-16 and GOES-17 . GOES-16 and-17 remain stationary over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, respectively. GOES-15
8624-481: The headquarters level, the Space Force is led by the Chief of Space Operations , a four-star general who reports to the Secretary of the Air Force and provides military advice to civilian leadership of the Department of Defense and the White House . Alongside the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force combine to form the Department of the Air Force, like how the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps combine to form
8736-653: The issue, recalling that Starfleet's logo was chosen as an homage to the Space Force's direct predecessors in military space operations. The service also chose the title "Guardian" to represent its personnel, becoming its counterpart to Soldier and Airman. The term "Guardian" has a long history within Air Force Space Command, originally serving as part of its motto: "Guardians of the High Frontier." The Space Force also adopted Semper Supra as its official motto and unveiled its service song , sharing
8848-506: The long haul, our safety as a nation may depend upon achieving "space superiority." Several decades from now, the important battles may not be sea battles or air battles, but space battles, and we should be spending a certain fraction of our national resources to ensure that we do not lag in obtaining space supremacy. The beginnings of the U.S. Space Force can be traced to the Aftermath of World War II . General Henry H. Arnold , commander of
8960-510: The maiden flight of the Heavy configuration, suffered a partial failure. Then, two launch attempts in August 2005 were scrubbed, the second attempt just four minutes and 26 seconds prior to liftoff. After these launch attempts, the rocket's flight termination system batteries expired, requiring replacement. A strike by workers at Boeing subsequently pushed the launch back to May 2006. At launch,
9072-666: The mass of the first generation - were developed by ESA with European industry and in cooperation with EUMETSAT who then operate the satellites from their headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany with this same approach followed for all subsequent European meteorological satellites. Meteosat-8 , the first MSG satellite, was launched in 2002 on an Ariane-5 launcher, carrying the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) and Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instruments, along with payloads to support
9184-510: The most dramatic photos showed the 600 Kuwaiti oil fires that the fleeing Army of Iraq started on February 23, 1991. The night photos showed huge flashes, far outstripping the glow of large populated areas. The fires consumed huge quantities of oil; the last was doused on November 6, 1991. Snowfield monitoring, especially in the Sierra Nevada , can be helpful to the hydrologist keeping track of available snowpack for runoff vital to
9296-484: The ocean's surface starting in the late 1970s, with microwave imagery which resembled radar displays, which significantly improved the diagnoses of tropical cyclone strength, intensification, and location during the 2000s and 2010s. The DSCOVR satellite, owned by NOAA, was launched in 2015 and became the first deep space satellite that can observe and predict space weather. It can detect potentially dangerous weather such as solar wind and geomagnetic storms . This
9408-606: The operational GOES satellites malfunctioned. In January 2017, the United States Air Force started to consider taking over a spare GOES satellite for monitoring the Indian Ocean as the Meteosat-8 satellite was expected to be out of fuel in 2020 (later extended to 2022). GOES-13 was brought out of storage on 19 June 2019 for a period of testing, and began to drift westward since 2 July 2019. In September 2019, NOAA confirmed that GOES-13 had been transferred to
9520-547: The operational configuration. The imager satellites carry the Flexible Combined Imager (FCI), succeeding MVIRI and SEVIRI to give even greater resolution and spectral coverage, scanning the full Earth disc every ten minutes, as well as a new Lightning Imager (LI) payload. The sounder satellites carry the Infrared Sounder (IRS) and Ultra-violet Visible Near-infrared (UVN) instruments. UVN is part of
9632-433: The point at which the satellite was placed in standby mode on 24 September 2012 in order to allow engineers to diagnose the problem. GOES-15 temporarily provided backup imagery for a short time, with GOES-14 being taken out of in-orbit storage and prepared to be a longer-term replacement including movement towards the 75.0° slot normally occupied by GOES-East. GOES-13 returned to normal operations on 18 October 2012. GOES-14
9744-580: The same name. The decision on if the Space Force's ranks would mirror the Army, like the Air Force and Marine Corps, or the Navy, generated significant controversy, with Congressman Dan Crenshaw introducing an amendment which would force the Space Force to pattern itself after the Navy's rank structure. Ultimately, the amendment failed and the Space Force followed an Air Force/Army/Marine Corps-based rank scheme. The Space Force began to officially incorporate former Air Force Space Command units in 2020 and 2021, standing up field commands to serve as counterparts to
9856-424: The same time, energy use and city growth can be monitored since both major and even minor cities, as well as highway lights, are conspicuous. This informs astronomers of light pollution . The New York City Blackout of 1977 was captured by one of the night orbiter DMSP space vehicles. In addition to monitoring city lights, these photos are a life saving asset in the detection and monitoring of fires. Not only do
9968-606: The satellite ground track can still be gridded later to form maps . According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a meteorological-satellite service (also: meteorological-satellite radiocommunication service ) is – according to Article 1.52 of the ITU Radio Regulations (RR) – defined as « An earth exploration-satellite service for meteorological purposes.» This radiocommunication service
10080-532: The satellite had a mass of 3,133 kilograms (6,907 lb), and an expected operational lifespan of ten years, although it carries fuel for longer. It was built by Boeing , based on the BSS-601 satellite bus, and was the first of three GOES-N series satellites to be launched. In December 2007, GOES-13 was called up to provide coverage of the East Coast of the United States during an outage of GOES-12 due to
10192-429: The satellites see the fires visually day and night, but the thermal and infrared scanners on board these weather satellites detect potential fire sources below the surface of the Earth where smoldering occurs. Once the fire is detected, the same weather satellites provide vital information about wind that could fan or spread the fires. These same cloud photos from space tell the firefighter when it will rain. Some of
10304-458: The service gained its first astronaut when Colonel Michael S. Hopkins swore into the Space Force aboard the International Space Station on 18 December 2020. The Space Force also began to build out its culture and identity, however, it experienced several public relations challenges due to its perceived ties to science fiction and links to President Trump. The Space Force adopted the Army and Air Force's OCP Uniform with blue stitching and
10416-585: The service. Following the Persian Gulf War , the Air Force and Defense Department declared that "space power has now become as important to the nation as land, sea, and air power." Despite this public pronouncement, a growing section of Congress believed that space was being shortchanged and used only as an auxiliary to air operations. In 1998, drawing parallels between the challenges faced by post-World War I Army Aviators and post-Gulf War Air Force space operators, Senator Bob Smith publicly called for
10528-785: The single first generation satellites to continue the EPS mission. Observation is typically made via different 'channels' of the electromagnetic spectrum , in particular, the visible and infrared portions. Some of these channels include: Visible-light images from weather satellites during local daylight hours are easy to interpret even by the average person, clouds, cloud systems such as fronts and tropical storms, lakes, forests, mountains, snow ice, fires, and pollution such as smoke, smog, dust and haze are readily apparent. Even wind can be determined by cloud patterns, alignments and movement from successive photos. The thermal or infrared images recorded by sensors called scanning radiometers enable
10640-399: The volcanic ash cloud from Mount St. Helens and activity from other volcanoes such as Mount Etna . Smoke from fires in the western United States such as Colorado and Utah have also been monitored. El Niño and its effects on weather are monitored daily from satellite images. The Antarctic ozone hole is mapped from weather satellite data. Collectively, weather satellites flown by
10752-538: The wholesale transfer of United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command , to include the 100th Missile Defense Brigade and the 1st Space Brigade . The 100th Missile Defense Brigade operates the Ground Based Interceptor system and is located at Schriever Space Force Base , Vandenberg Space Force Base , and Fort Greely . Former Air Force space officers have called to move the missile defense and intercontinental ballistic missile mission to
10864-604: The world, establishing the Western Development Division in 1954 and placing it under the command of General Schriever. The Army followed a year later, creating the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under the leadership of General John Bruce Medaris and Dr. Wernher von Braun . The Army led the United States into space, launching the first American spacecraft, Explorer 1 , on 31 January 1958. Space exploration continued to be
10976-549: The world. The United States Space Force traces its origins to the Air Force, Army, and Navy's military space programs created during the beginning of the Cold War . US military space forces first participated in combat operations during the Vietnam War and have participated in every U.S. military operation since, most notably in the Persian Gulf War , which has been referred to as the "first space war." The Strategic Defense Initiative and creation of Air Force Space Command in
11088-467: Was believed to occur on the solar array yoke. In the short term GOES-15 was reconfigured to cover the entire United States, but operators activated GOES-14 to take over GOES-East operations at 06:00 UTC on 23 May 2013. GOES-13 was scheduled to return to operational status at 15:45 UTC on 6 June 2013 However, that was delayed due to a Critical Weather Day and Tropical Storm Andrea . It returned to full duty on 10 June 2013. On 20 November 2015, at 09:22 UTC,
11200-474: Was disabled. The GOES-13 GVAR and (Low Rate Information Transmission) LRIT were relayed through GOES-14 until 8 January 2018, at which time the GOES-13 GVAR relay through GOES-14 GVAR was disabled. GOES-13 ceased transmitting data, began drifting to its storage location at 60.0° West on 9 January 2018, and arrived there on 31 January 2018. GOES-13 remained at 60.0° West as a backup satellite, in case one of
11312-438: Was followed by the establishment of the joint United States Space Command in 1985, aligning Air Force Space Command, Naval Space Command , and Army Space Command under a single operational commander. These two moves, along with the Strategic Defense Initiative 's establishment by President Ronald Reagan , led to a renaissance of military space operations in the 1980s. Space forces were first used in combat operations during
11424-575: Was immediately redesignated as United States Space Force, however, the command and its 16,000 Airmen technically remained part of the Air Force. On 3 April 2020, Chief Master Sergeant Roger A. Towberman became the Space Force's second member and was appointed its first senior enlisted leader . The service gained its first new second lieutenants when 86 members of the U.S. Air Force Academy class of 2020 became Space Force members 3 through 88 on 18 April 2020. Currently serving Air Force space operators began to become Space Force members in September 2020 and
11536-492: Was included in the Trump Administration's original legislative proposal to give the Space Force additional independence and autonomy but was removed by the Senate. There have also been numerous calls from inside and outside the Space Force for it to have its own public affairs and judge advocate generals, independent from Air Force. When the Space Force was established in 2019 it was intended to consolidate
11648-408: Was kept in normal operations and used to monitor Hurricane Sandy in parallel with GOES-13 before GOES-14 returned to standby status. On 22 May 2013, at 03:40 UTC, GOES-13 was apparently hit by a micrometeorite or orbital debris ( MMOD ) which caused it to lose track of the stars that it uses to maintain attitude. The satellite then went into safe mode and shut down all of its instruments. The hit
11760-595: Was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit at 817 km altitude by a Soyuz launcher from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. This operational satellite - which forms the space segment of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) - built on the heritage from ESA's ERS and Envisat experimental missions, and was followed at six-year intervals by Metop-B and Metop-C - the latter launched from French Guyana in a "Europeanised" Soyuz . Each carry thirteen different passive and active instruments ranging in design from imagers and sounders to
11872-550: Was launched on February 17, 1959. It was designed to measure cloud cover and resistance, but a poor axis of rotation and its elliptical orbit kept it from collecting a notable amount of useful data. The Explorer 6 and Explorer 7 satellites also contained weather-related experiments. The first weather satellite to be considered a success was TIROS-1 , launched by NASA on April 1, 1960. TIROS operated for 78 days and proved to be much more successful than Vanguard 2. Other early weather satellite programs include
11984-575: Was naive to believe that the same trends were not expected to be seen in space and must be prepared for. Although the Air Force made significant progress in developing the X-20 spaceplane , Manned Orbiting Laboratory , and Blue Gemini , opposition from the Department of Defense prevented operational fielding. The Air Force was also forced to cancel Project SAINT , a satellite inspector with satellite neutralization capabilities, when details were leaked to The New York Times in 1962. Despite these setbacks,
12096-572: Was outlined in Space Policy Directive-4, initially organizing the U.S. Space Force as part of the Department of the Air Force, but with plans to build out a separate Department of the Space Force in the future. In 2019, Congress passed legislation establishing the U.S. Space Force as a military service under the Department of the Air Force. On 20 December 2019, the National Defense Authorization Act
12208-419: Was recognized as the lead military service for space by the early 1960s, with the Army and Navy operating in supporting roles. Early military space efforts were focused on developing and fielding spacecraft to accomplish national objectives, with a focus on weather , reconnaissance and surveillance , communications , and navigation . On 18 August 1961, the Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office launched
12320-404: Was replaced by GOES-16 on 18 December 2017 and on 8 January 2018 its instruments were shut off and it began its three-week drift to an on-orbit storage location at 60.0° West longitude, arriving on 31 January 2018. It remained there as a backup satellite in case one of the operational GOES satellites had a problem until early July 2019, when it started to drift westward and was being transferred to
12432-534: Was retired in early July 2019. The satellite GOES 13 that was previously owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) was transferred to the U.S. Space Force in 2019 and renamed the EWS-G1; becoming the first geostationary weather satellite to be owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Defense. Russia 's new-generation weather satellite Elektro-L No.1 operates at 76°E over
12544-399: Was signed into law and the U.S. Space Force was established as the sixth armed service, meeting the Rumsfeld and Allard commissions' recommendations to create a Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force, but still falling short of creating a separate Department of the Space Force. We are at the dawn of a new era for our Nation’s Armed Forces. The establishment of the U.S. Space Force
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