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Responsible for United States Air Force]] space operations, as distinct from the operational ballistic missile]]s is the Fourteenth Air Force, based at Vandenberg Air Force Base]], California. As is typical of most numbered Air Forces, 14th Air Force has two headquarters to which it reports. For research & development, training, and readiness, it reports to the Air Force Space Command]]. For direct support of operations, including satellite operations and space warning, it reports to the United States Strategic Command]]. While it was once colocated with the Twentieth Air Force]], which is responsible for operational intercontinental ballistic missile]]s, 20th AF headquarters has moved to the largest hardened missile field, F.E. Warren Air Force Base]].
Units
- 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base]], California. Vandenberg is the U.S. Western (space) test range, complementing the Eastern Test Range. Western launches are preferable for satellites that will be in high-latitude satellite orbits]].
- 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base]], Florida. This Wing runs military launches from the Eastern Test Range at Cape Canaveral, FL, (i.e., Kennedy Space Center]]) complementing Vandenberg for launches in lower latitudes.
- 21st Space Wing, Peterson Air Force Base]], Colorado, responsible for a worldwide radar]], electro-optical tracking|electro-optical imagery]] and electro-optical MASINT]] network for space and missile launch tracking, starting with the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System]] (BMEWS) and the original FPS-50|AN/FPS-50]] radars, FPS-115|AN/FPS-115]] PAVE PAWS radars with a principal mission of warning against submarine-launched ballistic missile]]s and a secondary space surveillance role. It also operates the AN/FPQ-16]], originally the Perimeter Attack Radar Characterization System for the cancelled Safeguard ballistic missile defense]], with a current space surveillance mission.
- 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base]], Colorado, principally responsible for Global Positioning System]], communications, and Defense Support Program]] (DSP) and successor electro-optical MASINT#space-based staring infrared MASINT|space-based staring infrared MASINT]] systems that detect the heat of a missile launch.
- 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base]], Colorado, which manages the downlink for a number of National Reconnaissance Office]] reconnaissance satellites, as well as working with DSP.
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