USSF Forms Unit to Analyze Space Intel for Policy-Making, Acquisitions

The chief of the Space Operations Command announced that a new unit has been formed within the Space Force specifically to provide quality intelligence to policymakers about the space domain. Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting said the newly created Space Delta 18 will focus on threat analysis to help inform national defense policy and space systems acquisitions, SpaceNews reported Friday.

Whiting revealed that the new unit will henceforth be operating the National Space Intelligence Center, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He stressed the importance of the USSF having a unit focused on threat analysis to help inform national defense policy and space systems acquisitions.

For her part, Maj. Gen. Leah Lauderback, Space Force director of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said that America’s newest military service needs “a sharper focus on the space threat that is here today.” 

Space intelligence analysis was previously under the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. However, the USSF’s leadership pushed to have a separate organization dedicated to analyzing space threats.

Space Delta 18 was formed by fusing two units originally activated in 2008 within the Air Force – the 1st and 2nd Space Analysis Squadrons. The first squadron will produce foundational intelligence on foreign space capabilities while the second will produce foundational intelligence on foreign threats to space operations, SpaceNews further reported.

Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said that the NSIC’s establishment promises to support “allied space decision-makers at an absolutely critical moment in the history of space development.” She emphasized that the unit fills a crucial niche amid efforts by China and Russia to target American and allied satellites.