The 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23 SOPS) is a satellite control unit of the

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...

. It is part of

Space Delta 6 Space Delta 6 (DEL 6) is a United States Space Force unit which assures access to space through the $6.8 billion Satellite Control Network and defensive cyberspace capabilities for space mission systems. Activated on 24 July 2020, the delta is ...

and is located at

New Boston Space Force Station New Boston Space Force Station (BOSS) is a United States Space Force facility located in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Hillsborough County in south central New Hampshire. It was transferred from the United States Air Force to the Space Forc ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Prior to July 2020, part of the

50th Network Operations Group The 50th Network Operations Group (50 NOG) was a United States Air Force group assigned to the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. 50 NOG operated the Air Force Satellite Control Network and was responsible for the 50th Space ...

, itself a part of the

50th Space Wing The 50th Space Wing was the United States Space Force's space and cyber warfare wing. The 50th Space Wing was assigned to Space Operations Command and headquartered at Schriever Air Force Base. It was activated in 1949 as the 50th Fighter Win ...

History

23rd Airways Detachment (1942–1943)

The 23rd Space Operations Squadron was originally activated on 25 July 1942 as the 23rd Airways Detachment. The squadron served in India and China during World War II, earning campaign streamers for India-Burma (1942–1945) and the China Defensive (1942–1945) before disbanding on 1 December 1943.

Air Force Space Command (1991–2019)

On 1 November 1991, the Air Force reconstituted the 23rd Airways Detachment and designated it the 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23rd SOPS).

Air Force Space Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

(AFSPC) activated the unit at New Boston Air Force Station in New Hampshire. The squadron assumed responsibility for the operation of the New Hampshire Tracking Station, replacing a detachment of the 2nd Satellite Tracking Group. Satellite support operations there had begun on 1 April 1960, using van-mounted equipment. Simultaneous with van operations, the installation of equipment in permanent facilities began under the Weapons Systems 117L program. Van operations were gradually phased out, and by June 1964 the entire station was operating in permanent facilities. By the summer of 1964, the station had dual satellite tracking, telemetry and commanding capabilities. On 1 October 1987 the operations were transferred to AFSPC, and the station moved from a research and development environment into the operational Air Force. On 10 March 2004, the squadron was realigned under the

, part of the

. It began supporting three other SCN sites in October 2010, including Detachment 1 located at

Thule Air Base Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north o ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, and

RAF Oakhanger RAF Oakhanger is a Royal Air Force station in Hampshire split over three operational sites; with accommodation in nearby Bordon. The main site and operations centre is located near the village of Oakhanger, the two other sites being nearby. Th ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The third site, the Eastern Vehicle Checkout Facility (EVCF), is located at

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

(callsign BEACH) and ensures SCN capabilities and operation of satellites prior to and during initial launch. The squadron began supporting two

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS) ground antennas and monitor stations on 1 August 2011. One is located at Cape Canaveral and the other is located at Ascension Auxiliary Air Field on

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

in the South

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The squadron completed installation of an Automated Remote Tracking Station capability at the Eastern Vehicle Checkout Facility based at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 29 August 2013. The EVCF is responsible for launch-based compatibility testing and launch data collection, primarily on the Eastern Launch Range.

US Space Force (2019–present)

The squadron was realigned to Space Delta 6 of the

on 24 July 2020.

Mission

The 23rd Space Operations Squadron (23rd SOPS) provides

US Space Command United States Space Command (USSPACECOM or SPACECOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers (62 miles) and grea ...

with critical satellite command and control capability to more than 190

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

, national and civilian satellites performing

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

, early-warning and

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

operations.

Locations

The squadron provides assured access to space and cyberspace by operating and maintaining the

Satellite Control Network The Satellite Control Network (SCN), operated by the United States Space Force's Space Delta 6, provides support for the operation, control, and maintenance of a variety of United States Department of Defense and some non-DoD satellites. This in ...

's largest remote tracking station at

, as well as at three other

Geographically Separate Unit In the United States military a Geographically Separate Unit (GSU) is a base that is physically separate from, yet not autonomous of its "parent" base. GSUs are "owned" by their parent organization and are typically quite small. Assignment to a ...

s located at

in Greenland, Oakhanger in the United Kingdom, and the Eastern Vehicle Checkout Facility (EVCF) at

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the station ...

in Florida.

Operations

The squadron provides real-time capability to users performing on-orbit tracking,

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...

, commanding, and mission data retrieval services. Additionally, the squadron provides remote command and control capability through two Global Positioning System (GPS) control stations located at

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

and Ascension Auxiliary Air Field in the South Atlantic Ocean. The squadron also operates and maintains a

ground station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

of the

Defense Satellite Communications System The Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) is a United States Space Force satellite constellation that provides the United States with military communications to support globally distributed military users. Beginning in 2007, DSCS is be ...

and additional equipment in support of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA) and other mission partners. The 23rd SOPS operates and maintains New Boston SFS, an installation of which includes infrastructure worth more than $106 million. The squadron performs all station operations for the installation including security, civil engineering, communications, services, natural resources and safety.

List of commanders

*Lt Col David G. Hanson, 28 June 2011 *Lt Col Sarah Jackson, ~2013 *Lt Col Marty Easter, ~2015 *Lt Col Kenneth Holmes, ~2017 *Lt Col Daniel Highlander, 2 July 2019 *Lt Col David Zesinger, 12 July 2021

References

External links

Official squadron fact sheet
{{USAF Space Command Squadrons of the United States Space Force Military units and formations in New Hampshire