The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

's 111th Space Operations Squadron (111 SOPS) is an

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

space communications unit located at

Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public airport east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in th ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. 111 SOPS is the military's first unit to operate free-floating balloons in the

near space The mesosphere (; ) is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere, temperature decreases as altitude increases. This characteristic is used to define its limits: i ...

environment.

Previous designations

* 111th Space Operations Squadron (2003 – present) * Det 2, Arizona Air National Guard (???)

Bases stationed

(2003 – present)

Equipment Operated

Combat SkySat balloons (2003 – present)World Airpower Journal. (1992). US Air Force Air Power Directory. Aerospace Publishing: London, UK.

References

External links

Arizona Air National Guard
{{US Air Force navbox Squadrons of the United States Air National Guard Military units and formations in Arizona Space Operations 0111