Cape Cod Space Force Station is a

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 ...

station located in the northwest corner of

Joint Base Cape Cod The Joint Base Cape Cod is a state-designated joint base created by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States War Department in 1935. Governor James Curley signed the state bill to allocate and purchase land for a military facilit ...

, United States, on Flatrock Hill in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Cape Cod Space Force Station began construction in 1976 as Cape Cod Missile Early Warning Station and was renamed Cape Cod Air Force Station in 1982, before assuming its current name in 2021. Missile warning and space surveillance operations are conducted by

Space Delta 4 Space Delta 4 (DEL 4) is a United States Space Force unit responsible for providing strategic and theater missile warning to the United States and its international partners. It operates three constellations of Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) s ...

6th Space Warning Squadron The 6th Space Warning Squadron is located at Cape Cod Space Force Station, in Sagamore, Massachusetts. It operates the PAVE PAWS radar to watch for missiles launched toward North America. The squadron is assigned to Space Delta 4. The squadron wa ...

while base administration is the responsibility of

Buckley Garrison Space Base Delta 2 (SBD 2) is a garrison command in the United States Space Force, responsible providing installation support functions for the resident air operations, space-based missile warning capabilities, space surveillance operations, a ...

History

On 27 August 1973, the United States Air Force directed the construction of two phased array missile warning radar systems, specifically to defend against the launch of

submarine-launched ballistic missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...

s. On 23 May 1975 it was announced that the east coast site would be located at

Otis Air Force Base Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media ** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl'' * Otis (''The Walking Dead''), in the Image Comics ...

at Cape Cod and the west coast site would be located at

Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. It is located outside Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about north of Sacramento. The host ...

. Construction on the Cape Cod Missile Warning Station began on 26 October 1976. On 1 October 1979, the 6th Missile Warning Squadron and 2165th Communications Squadron were established and the facility became operational on 4 April 1980 under

Aerospace Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inac ...

's 21st Air Division. On 1 December 1979, Aerospace Defense Command's missile warning and space surveillance radars were transferred to

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

, with Cape Cod Missile Warning Station becoming part of the 45th Air Division. On 5 January 1982, Cape Cod Missile Warning Station's name was changed to Cape Cod Air Force Station and became part of

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 ...

1st Space Wing The 1st Space Wing was a wing of the United States Air Force active from 1983 to 1992 at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado as part of Air Force Space Command.21st Space Wing The 21st Space Wing (21 SW) was the United States Space Force's ground–based missile warning and space control wing. The 21st Space Wing was assigned to Space Operations Command and headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The 21st ...

21st Operations Group Space Delta 2 (DEL 2) is the United States Space Force's space domain awareness delta and is headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Space Delta 2 tracks and monitors all manmade objects from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit ...

. On 20 December 2019, the 6th Space Warning Squadron became part of the United States Space Force and on 24 July 2020, the 6th Space Warning Squadron became part of

and

became responsible for installation support. On 11 June 2021, Cape Cod Air Force Station was renamed Cape Cod Space Force Station.

Units

6th Space Warning Squadron

The

is responsible for operating the

AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar The Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS, colloquially "BMEWS radar network'" as late as 2004) is a United States Space Force radar, computer, and communications system for missile warning and space surveillance "at five (5) geographical ...

and is part of

. The 6th Space Warning Squadron has been the host unit at Cape Cod Space Force Station since 1979. In addition to Space Force guardians, there are a number of

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

airmen and airwomen assigned to the squadron. The primary mission of the squadron is to guard the United States and Canadian east coast against sea-launched and intercontinental ballistic missile attacks, which is then routed to the

Missile Defense Agency The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which ...

and

United States 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 ...

Missile Warning Center The Missile Warning Center (MWC) is a center that provides missile warning and defense for United States Space Command's Combined Force Space Component Command, incorporating both space-based and terrestrial sensors. The MWC is located at Cheyenn ...

for missile defense operations. The squadron's secondary mission is tracking low-earth-orbiting objects, such as the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

, which is reported to the

18th Space Control Squadron The 18th Space Defense Squadron (18 SDS) is a United States Space Force Space Domain Awareness unit located at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The 18th SDS is tasked with executing command and control of the space surveillance network ...

Base assignment and major units

Gallery

File:Cape Cod Space Force Station.jpg,

Lt. Gen. Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star rank, three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in ...

Nina Armagno Nina Marion Armagno (born March 20, 1966) is a United States Space Force lieutenant general, serving as the director of staff of the United States Space Force. She is the service's first female general officer and the only officer to have comma ...

, Rep. Bill Keating, Lt. Col. Timothy “Vax” Sheehan, and other dignitaries including Walter Taylor and Greg Moore attend the installation's redesignation as a Space Force Station. File:Cape Cod AFS Security Forces.jpg, Member of Air Force

Security Forces Security forces are statutory organizations with internal security mandates. In the legal context of several nations, the term has variously denoted police and military units working in concert, or the role of military and paramilitary forces (s ...

standing watch in front of the PAVE PAWS installation at Cape Cod SFS, 2021. File:Cape Cod Air Force Station entrance.jpg, The entrance to the station while designated an Air Force Station File:Pave Paws Radar Screen.jpg, Radar screen for the PAVE PAWS at Cape Cod AFS, 1986. File:PAVE Paws Computer Room.jpg, Computer room for PAVE PAWS at Cape Cod AFS, 1986. Note the four large hard disk units in the foreground.

References

External links

* * {{Aerospace Defense Command 1980 establishments in Massachusetts Bourne, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts Installations of the United States Air Force in Massachusetts Installations of the United States Space Force Military installations established in 1980