As America faces growing competition in the space domain, it’s time to strengthen — not dismantle — one of its most proven space war-fighting tools. The creation of the U.S. Space Force in 2019 was a historic shift in national defense. But it remains incomplete without an essential piece: a Space National Guard.
Today, more than 1,000 Air National Guard members across several states are executing critical space missions — missile warning, satellite command and control, space domain awareness, defensive cyber operations and expeditionary space electromagnetic warfare. These units represent nearly one-third of the Space Force’s operational squadrons and are already integrated into global combatant command operations.
Despite that, the Department of the Air Force is pursuing a plan to tran