Mission Delta 8 (MD 8) is the United States Space Force unit responsible for military satellite communications and operates a variety of satellite constellation. It is headquartered at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado.

History

Before the founding of an independent Space Force, the Air Force Space Command's (AFSPC) 50th Operations Group (50 OG), part of the 50th Space Wing, performed the satellite communications and position, navigation, and timing missions. As part of the reorganization in the stand-up of Space Force, 50 OG was inactivated and DEL 8 was activated on 24 July 2020. On 8 February 2022, the 50th Operations Support Squadron was inactivated and the 8th Combat Training Squadron was activated.

In September 2021, the Space Force publicly identified Army and Navy satellite communications units that would transfer to the new Delta. On 6 June 2022, the Naval Satellite Operations Center transferred as the 10th Space Operations Squadron, followed on 29 June 2022 by the Army's 53rd Signal Battalion, which became the 53rd Space Operations Squadron.

On 7 July 2022, Colonel David Pheasant, a former Army officer who had once commanded the 53rd Signal Battalion, took command of DEL 8, becoming the first inter-service transfer officer to command a Space Force Delta.

In 2023, the 2nd Space Operations Squadron was transferred to the Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Integrated Mission Delta (Provisional) with the transfer of the position, navigation, and timing mission set into the new unit.

Structure

DEL 8 is composed of four squadrons.

EmblemNameFunctionHeadquartersSpacecraft
Squadrons
8th Combat Training SquadronOperational training and certification, tactics development, engineering support, and crew force managementSchriever Space Force Base, Colorado
4th Space Operations SquadronSatellite communicationSchriever Space Force Base, ColoradoAdvanced Extremely High Frequency Defense Satellite Communications System Phase III Military Strategic and Tactical Relay Wideband Global Satellite Communications
10th Space Operations SquadronSatellite communicationPoint Mugu, CaliforniaMobile User Objective System Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On Fleet Satellite Communications System
53rd Satellite Operations SquadronSatellite communicationSchriever Space Force Base, ColoradoWideband Global SATCOM Defense Satellite Communications System

List of commanders

No.CommanderTermRef
PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeDuration
1Holston, Matthew E.Colonel Matthew E. Holston24 July 20207 July 20221 year, 348 days
2Pheasant, David A.Colonel David A. Pheasant7 July 202224 June 20241 year, 353 days
3Weisler, Jeffery E.Colonel Jeffery E. Weisler24 June 2024Incumbent1 year, 296 days

See also

External links