Air Force Space Command is consolidating control of its missile-launch early warning satellite systems to a single mission control center at Buckley AFB, Colo., officials announced. The “Block 10” control floor at Buckley conducted its first set of test communications with a Space Based Infrared System satellite in late January, according to a Feb. 17 release. The facility will soon be redesignated Mission Control Station 2, controlling both SBIR’s highly elliptical orbit and geostationary Earth orbit systems, as well as the legacy Defense Support System satellites that SBIRS is replacing. “This is a major milestone for a multi-billion dollar system toward a critical national mission in which we have been diligently working for a very long time,” said Col. Michael Jackson, commander of Buckley’s 460th Operations Group. The control center plans to continue testing interface with each satellite, before moving to multi-satellite operations, and eventually control of DPS, HEO, and GEO within about 18 months.
Hawaii F-22s Wrap Up Deployment to Japan
April 9, 2021
F-22s and Airmen from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, forward deployed to Japan for almost one month to train with Japanese and U.S. Marine Corps aircraft as part of a “dynamic force employment” operation. The Raptors from the Active-duty 19th Fighter Squadron and Air National Guard 199th Fighter Squadron deployed…