The 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) 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 ...

unit responsible for operating the

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 ...

(GPS)

satellite constellation A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one s ...

, which provides global navigation, time transfer, and nuclear detonation detection. It is a component of

Space Operations Command Space Operations Command (SpOC) is the United States Space Force's space operations, cyber operations, and intelligence field command. It is headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado and serves as the U.S. Space Force's service ...

Space Delta 8 Space Delta 8 (DEL 8) is the United States Space Force unit responsible for satellite communications and position, navigation, and timing. The Delta operates, among other constellations, the Global Positioning System for both military and civil ...

and headquartered at

Schriever Space Force Base Schriever Space Force Base, previously Schriever Air Force Base, Falcon Air Force Base, and Falcon Air Force Station, is a base of the United States Space Force located approximately east of Peterson Space Force Base near Colorado Springs in ...

, Colorado. The squadron is augmented by

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US ...

personnel from the

19th Space Operations Squadron The 19th Space Operations Squadron is an Air Force Reserve space operations unit, located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. Mission The 19th Space Operations Squadron is a reserve associate unit with the 2d Space Operations Squadron of the ...

, part of the

310th Space Wing The 310th Space Wing is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. The wing is the only space wing in the ...

Mission

The squadron performs the command and control mission for the

satellite constellation. GPS is the world's premiere space-based position, velocity and timing system, capable of providing precision navigation and timing capability simultaneously to an unlimited number of properly equipped users. Continuous GPS availability and unprecedented signal accuracy has resulted in widespread integration of the technology; numerous military, commercial and international users have embraced GPS.

History

The squadron was originally constituted as the 2d Surveillance Squadron and activated on 16 January 1962 under

North American Air Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

. It was then organized on 1 February 1962 at

Ent Air Force Base Ent Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 during construction of the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Girar ...

under the

9th Aerospace Defense Division 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, under which it operated SPACETRACK, the USAF globe-spanning space surveillance network, from 1962 through 1967. The squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1967. It was redesignated the 2d Satellite Control Squadron as the first operational squadron of the

2d Space Wing The 2d Space Wing was a wing of the United States Air Force. Constituted on 5 December 1984 and activated on 8 July 1985, it was the host wing at Falcon Air Force Station (later Falcon Air Force Base; now Schriever Air Force Base). It took oper ...

. It was activated at

Falcon Air Force Station Schriever Space Force Base, previously Schriever Air Force Base, Falcon Air Force Base, and Falcon Air Force Station, is a base of the United States Space Force located approximately east of Peterson Space Force Base near Colorado Springs in ...

on 1 October 1985. The squadron has controlled the NAVSTAR

satellite constellation and managed the Nuclear Detonation System in support of the

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted ...

since 1987. On 30 January 1992, as part of an Air Force reorganization, 2 SCS was redesignated the 2d Space Operations Squadron. On June 18, 2004, a 24/7 user focal point, the GPSOC, was established. In late 2005, several

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of natio ...

monitor stations were integrated into the network to improve navigation accuracy and signal monitoring. The unit had one geographically separated unit, Detachment 1, 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 ...

. It was responsible for maintenance of a GPS Ground Antenna, Monitor Station, and various operational test assets. It is now discontinued, though contractors remained to perform the mission.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 2d Surveillance Squadron (Sensor) and activated, on 16 January 1962 (not organized) : Organized on 1 February 1962 : Discontinued and inactivated on 1 January 1967 * Redesignated 2d Satellite Control Squadron on 16 Jul 1985 : Activated on 1 October 1985 : Redesignated 2d Space Operations Squadron on 30 Jan 1992

Assignments

Air 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 ...

, 16 January 1962 (not organized) * 9th Aerospace Defense Division, 1 February 1962 – 1 January 1967 *

, 1 October 1985 *

50th Operations Group The 50th Operations Group was a subordinate unit of the 50th Space Wing, and assigned to Air Force Space Command from 1991-2019. The group, redesignated as Space Delta 8 on 24 Jul 2020 is stationed at Schriever Space Force Base, previously Schri ...

, 30 January 1992 – 24 July 2020 *

, 2020 - Present

Stations

* Ent Air Force Base, Colorado, 1 February 1962 – 1 January 1967 * Falcon Air Force Station (later Falcon Air Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base), Colorado, 1 October 1985 – present

Decorations

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and was the first independent Air Force d ...

* 1 June 1964 – 31 May 1966 * 1 December 1987 – 30 November 1989 * 1 September 1990 – 31 August 1991

List of commanders

* Lt Col Steven C. Stadler, October 1985 – April 1988 * Lt Col Barry R. Springer, April 1988 – April 1989 * Lt Col Michael E. Shaw, April 1989 – August 1990 * Lt Col

William L. Shelton William Lee Shelton (born February 25, 1954) is a former United States Air Force four-star General (United States), general who last served as the commander of Air Force Space Command from January 5, 2011, to August 15, 2014. He had been the As ...

, August 1990 – June 1992 * Lt Col Harrison C. Freer, June 1992 – June 1994 * Lt Col Frank M. DeArmond, June 1994 – January 1995 * Maj Thomas A. Shircliff, January 1995 – March 1995 * Lt Col Roger C. Hunter, March 1995 – October 1996 * Lt Col Joseph P. Squatrito, October 1996 – July 1998 * Lt Col James K. McLaughlin, July 1998 – June 2000 * Lt Col Daniel P. Jordan, June 2000 – July 2002 * Lt Col Scott A. Henderson, July 2002 – July 2004 * Lt Col Stephen T. Hamilton, July 2004 – uly 2006 * Lt Col Kurt W. Kuntzleman, July 2006 – August 2008 * Lt Col DeAnna M. Burt, August 2008 – August 2010 * Lt Col Jennifer L. Grant, August 2010 – June 2012 * Lt Col Thomas Ste. Marie, June 2012 – July 2014 * Lt Col Todd Benson, July 2014 – June 2016 * Lt Col Peter C. Norsky, June 2016 – 1 June 2018 * Lt Col Stephen A. Toth, 1 June 2018 – June 2020 * Lt Col Michael K. Schriever, June 2020 – 6 July 2022 * Lt Col Robert O. Wray, 6 July 2022 – present

References

; Notes ; Citations

Bibliography

External links

50th Space Wing Public Affairs: Schriever AFB

GPS Operations Center
{{USAF Space Command Squadrons of the United States Space Force Military units and formations in Colorado Global Positioning System