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Aspace force is amilitary branch of a nation'sarmed forces that conducts military operations inouter space andspace warfare. The world's first space force was theRussian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. However, it lost its independence twice, first being absorbed into theStrategic Rocket Forces from 1997–2001 and 2001–2011, then it merged with theRussian Air Force to form theRussian Aerospace Forces in 2015, where it now exists as a sub-branch.[1] As of 2025[update], there are two independent space forces: theUnited States Space Force and China'sPeople's Liberation Army Aerospace Force.
Countries with smaller or developing space forces may combine theirair and space forces under a single military branch, such as theRussian Aerospace Forces,Spanish Air and Space Force,French Air and Space Force, or IranianIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, or put them in an independent defense agency, such as the IndianDefence Space Agency. Countries with nascent military space capabilities usually organize them within theirair forces.[1]
The first artificial object to cross theKármán line, the boundary between air and space, wasMW 18014, anA-4 rocket launched by the GermanHeer on 20 June 1944 from thePeenemünde Army Research Center. The A4, more commonly known as the V-2, was the world's firstballistic missile, used by theWehrmacht to launch long-range attacks on theAllied Forces on theWestern Front during theSecond World War. The designer of the A4,Wernher von Braun, had aspirations to use them as space launch vehicles. In both the United States and the Soviet Union, military space development began immediately after the Second World War concluded, with Wernher von Braun defecting to the Allies and both superpowers gathering V-2 rockets, research materials, and German scientists to jumpstart their own ballistic missile and space programs.[2]
In the United States, there was a fierceinterservice rivalry between theU.S. Air Force andU.S. Army over which service would gain responsibility for the military space program. The Air Force, which had started developing its space program while it was still theArmy Air Forces in 1945, saw space operations as an extension of itsstrategic airpower mission, while the Army argued thatballistic missiles were an extension ofartillery. In 1946, the Navy began developing rockets primarily forNaval Research Laboratory projects rather than seeking to actively develop an operational space capability. Ultimately, the Air Force's space rivals in theArmy Ballistic Missile Agency,Naval Research Laboratory, andAdvanced Research Projects Agency were absorbed byNASA when it was created in 1958, leaving it as the only major military space organization within the U.S. Department of Defense. In 1954, General Bernard Schriever established theWestern Development Division withinAir Research and Development Command, becoming the U.S. military's first space organization, which continues to exist in the U.S. Space Force as theSpace Systems Command, its research and development center.[3][4]
During the 1960s and 1970s, Air Force space forces were organized withinAerospace Defense Command for missile defense and space surveillance forces,Strategic Air Command for weather reconnaissance satellites, andAir Force Systems Command for satellite communications, space launch, and space development systems. In 1982, U.S. Air Force space forces were centralized inAir Force Space Command, the first direct predecessor to the U.S. Space Force. U.S. space forces were first employed in theVietnam War, and continued to provide satellite communications, weather, and navigation support during the 1982Falklands War, 1983United States invasion of Grenada, 1986United States bombing of Libya, and 1989United States invasion of Panama. The first major employment of space forces culminated in theGulf War, where they proved so critical to the U.S.-led coalition, that it is sometimes referred to as the first space war. The first discussions of creating a military space service in the United States occurred in 1958, with the idea being floated by President Reagan as well in 1982. The 2001 Space Commission argued for the creation of a Space Corps between 2007 and 2011 and a bipartisan proposal in the U.S. Congress would have created a Space Corps in 2017. Then on 20 December 2019, the United States Space Force Act, part of theNational Defense Authorization Act for 2020, was signed, creating an independent space service by renaming and reorganizing Air Force Space Command into the United States Space Force.[5]
In the Soviet Union, the early space program was led by theOKB-1 design bureau, led bySergei Korolev. Unlike in the United States, where the U.S. Air Force held preeminence in missile and space development, theSoviet Ground Forces, and specifically theArtillery of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK), was responsible for missile and military space programs, with the RVGK responsible for the launch ofSputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite on 4 October 1957.[6] In 1960, Soviet military space forces were reorganized into the3rd Department of the Main Missile Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, before in 1964 becoming a part of the new SovietStrategic Rocket Forces Central Directorate of Space Assets.[7][8] The Strategic Rocket Forces Central Directorate of Space Assets would be renamed the Main Directorate of Space Assets in 1970, being transferred to directly report to the Soviet Ministry of Defense in 1982, and in 1986 became the Chief Directorate of Space Assets.[7] Established in 1967, the Anti-Ballistic Missile and Anti-Space Defense Forces of theSoviet Air Defense Forces were responsible for space surveillance and defense operations.[9]
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Russian Federation gained its space forces, with the Chief Directorate of Space Assets was reorganized into theMilitary Space Forces, an independent troops (vid) under the Russian Ministry of Defense, but not a military service (vid). The Soviet Air Defense Forces' Anti-Ballistic Missile and Anti-Space Defense Forces were reorganized into the Russian Air Defense Forces'Rocket and Space Defence Troops [ru].[9] In 1997, the Rocket and Space Defence Troops and Military Space Forces were merged into the Strategic Missile Forces; it subordinated the priorities of the space troops to the missile forces, resulting in the establishment of theRussian Space Forces as independent troops in 2001.[10][11] In 2011, the Russian Space Forces became theRussian Space Command, part of theRussian Aerospace Defense Forces, which merged Russia's space and air defense forces into one service.[12] In 2015, theRussian Air Force and Russian Aerospace Defense Forces were merged to form theRussian Aerospace Forces, which reestablished the Russian Space Forces as one of its three sub-branches, although it is no longer an independent entity.[1]
In 1998, the ChinesePeople's Liberation Army began creating its space forces under theGeneral Armaments Department, before being reorganized and renamed as thePeople's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force Space Systems Department in 2015.[13][14] The PLASSF was eventually dissolved in April 2024, with the space force element of the SSF becoming thePeople's Liberation Army Aerospace Force.[15]
In 2010, theFrench Armed Forces created the Joint Space Command, a joint organism under the authority of theChief of the Defence Staff. In 2019, theFrench PresidentEmmanuel Macron announced that the Joint Space Command would become theSpace Command and the newest major command of the Air Force, which would be renamed to reflect an "evolution of its mission" into the area ofouter space.[16] The Space Command is effective since 2019 and the Air Force was renamedAir and Space Force on 24 July 2020, with its new logo unveiled on 11 September 2020.[17]
In June 2022, theSpanish Government announced the Spanish Air Force would be renamed as theSpanish Air and Space Force.[18] On July 1, 2025, theNetherlands renamed the Royal Netherlands Air Force to theRoyal Netherlands Air and Space Force.[19]
The following list outlines the independent space forces that have been in operation:
United States Space Force (2019–present)[5]
People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force (2024–present)[15]
Russian Space Forces (2015–present; independent from 1992–1997 and 2001–2011)[1]
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