USSF engages with defense space leaders from Angola, Kenya & Nigeria

The United States Space Force’s Space Operations Command facilitated a multilateral engagement with defense space leaders from Angola, Kenya, and Nigeria on April 10 in Colorado Springs, Colo. The discussion centered around exploring potential Space Situational Awareness and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) data sharing opportunities between the U.S. and each respective nation.

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) is a new branch of the Armed Forces, established on December 20, 2019 with enactment of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The USSF was established within the Department of the Air Force, meaning the Secretary of the Air Force has overall responsibility for the USSF, under the guidance and direction of the Secretary of Defense.

Additionally, a four-star general known as the Chief of Space Operations (CSO) serves as the senior military member of the USSF. The CSO is a full member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mission: The USSF is a military service that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. USSF responsibilities include developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands.

Col. Raj Agrawal, commander of Mission Delta 2, the Space Force’s SDA Delta, gave a brief during the engagement. During the brief he was able to discuss the vital role SDA plays in international security, and how the U.S. has and will continue to seek out mutually beneficial partnerships with like-minded nations in space.

He also socialized U.S. Space Force-hosted foundational space training courses available to partner nation representatives, and identified the possibility of participation from each attending nation in U.S.-led multilateral SDA-focused exercises like Global Sentinel.

Each attending nation also had the opportunity to share the status of their own sovereign space programs. At the end of the meeting, senior leaders from all four nations expressed positive sentiment and gratitude for an insightful engagement.

Source: United States Space Force