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Navy Space Command

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Not to be confused with Naval Space Command.
Navy Space Command
ActiveApril 2019 – present
Country United States
Branch United States Navy
Part of U.S. Space Command
Garrison/HQFort Meade, Maryland
Motto(s)Tridens Ad Astra (Latin)
Commanders
CommanderVice Admiral Craig Clapperton

The Navy Space Command (abbreviated NAVSPACECOM) is a command that is tasked with developing space capability to provide the United States Navy with global communications, targeting, and reconnaissance using space-based assets. It was formed in 2002, when the former Naval Space Command was disbanded and replaced by NAVSPACECOM as the Navy service component of the U.S. Space Command.

History

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The U.S. Navy previously had the Naval Space Command (NSC) that was active from 1985 to 2002 as the Navy component of U.S. Space Command, before that organization was restructured and merged with United States Strategic Command by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.[1] The functions of the NSC were then divided between several other organizations, with the command initially becoming part of the Naval Network Warfare Command in July 2002 (which became the "Naval Network and Space Operations Command").[2] In late 2003 the Defense Secretary requested that the Navy transfer all of its space functions to the Air Force, and by the end of 2004 they were given to the Air Force's 20th Space Control Squadron, while the NNSOC reverted to its original name.[3] Prior to its dissolution in 2002, the Naval Space Command headquarters had about 300 personnel.[2]

The Chief of Naval Operations ordered the creation of the Navy Space Command (NAVSPACECOM) on 26 April 2019 to serve as the naval component of the reestablished U.S. Space Command. On 6 March 2022, a letter from the CNO intended for NAVSPACECOM to become a separate command under the leadership of the commander of United States Fleet Cyber Command. The position of Commander, Navy Space Command, was formally established on 1 January 2023,[4] though it was already being used as of 2020 by the head of Fleet Cyber Command.[5] The head of Fleet Cyber Command and its operating component, the U.S. Tenth Fleet, is also the commander of Navy Space Command.[6] The Navy Space Command is tasked with space domain operations to provide the Navy with global communications connectivity and targeting capability from the sea floor to space, through the usage of space assets, together with its other partners in U.S. Space Command.[4][7]

Transfer of the Naval Satellite Operations Center from the Navy to the Space Force.

When the Space Force was established in 2019 it was intended to consolidate the existing military space forces across the Army, Navy, and Air Force.[8] On 21 September 2021, the Navy and Space Force announced that the Naval Satellite Operations Center and its responsibility for narrowband satellite communications would be transferring to the new service.[9] This accelerated implementation of a 2019 pre-Space Force agreement between the Department of the Air Force and the Department of the Navy to transfer responsibility for the Mobile User Objective System follow-on from the Navy to the Air Force and see the Navy end its space operations mission. However, the Space Force agreed to let the Navy maintain a small space research footprint at the Naval Research Laboratory.[10] On 6 June 2022, the Naval Space Operations Center transferred from the Navy to the Space Force, ending 60 years of Naval space operations. Founded as the Navy Astronautics Group in 1962 it was the first military space operations command established and was redesignated the Naval Satellite Operations Center in 1990.[11] The Space Force replaced it with the 10th Space Operations Squadron, named after the United States Tenth Fleet to honor NAVSOC's legacy with it.[12]

Commanders

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No. Commander Term
Portrait Name Took office Left office Term length
1
Timothy J. White
Vice Admiral
Timothy J. White		26 April 201918 September 20201 year, 145 days
2
Ross A. Myers
Vice Admiral
Ross A. Myers		18 September 20204 August 20221 year, 320 days
3
Craig Clapperton
Vice Admiral
Craig Clapperton		4 August 2022Incumbent2 years, 121 days

Notes

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  1. ^ Hitchens, Theresa (31 May 2023). SPACECOM takes over missile defense ops from Strategic Command. Breaking Defense. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b Wagner, Gary R. (29 July 2002). Naval Network and Space Operations Command Established. (Archived). Navy Newstand. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  3. ^ Wagner, Gary R. (10 October 2004). Navy Transfers Space Surveillance Mission to Air Force. (Archived). Navy Newstand. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b Sykes, William (1 January 2023). Formal Establishment of Commander, Space Command. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  5. ^ Sykes, William (18 September 2020). US Fleet Cyber Command, US Navy Space Command welcome new VADM. USSPACECOM. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  6. ^ Sykes, William (12 August 2022). U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. Navy Space / Joint Force Headquarters – Cyber / U.S. 10th Fleet holds Change of Command. USSPACECOM. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  7. ^ U.S. NAVY SPACE COMMAND SEAL. Fleet Cyber Command/Tenth Fleet. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Space Policy Directive-4".
  9. ^ "Space Force reveals which Army and Navy units are moving to the space branch". 21 September 2021.
  10. ^ "The Asset Transfer Fight".
  11. ^ "Navy satellite center disestablished; U.S. Space Force assumes command".
  12. ^ "Navy Hands over Satellite Operations Center to Space Force". 17 June 2022.
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