1st Expeditionary Space Control Squadron

The roots of the squadron can be traced to 1961, when the Space Detection and Tracking System Center at opened at Ent Air Force Base, Colorado. The center brought together Air Force and Navy systems designed to track objects in space in all directions, not merely Soviet missiles launched over the North Pole. The center came under the operational control of North American Air Defense Command.[2] There were several subsequent moves, name changes, and changes in personnel, experience, and equipment.

The Air Force activated the 1st Command and Control Squadron at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colorado in December 1989 to operate the system.[1] The 1st Command and Control Squadron provided collision avoidance support during each shuttle mission as well as maintaining an extensive satellite catalog (the "SATCAT" or "Box score").[3] This catalog is used by U.S. civilian and military agencies when launching new satellites into space, as well as by U.S. allies.[4]

The 1 SPCS tracked and compiled positional data on thousands of man-made objects in space partly to prevent collisions between newly launched satellites and other objects already orbiting the Earth. Additionally, the unit had the mission to task 30 space sensors within Space Surveillance Network to track satellites for US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) to maintain an accurate satellite catalog (SATCAT) of over 9000 objects orbiting the Earth.,[5][6] To support manned space flight, 1 SPCS constructs a theoretical box around the Space Shuttle, MIR or ISS, and projects flight path intersections for 36 to 72 hours. If any objects intersects the theoretical box, the unit forwarded the analysis to NASA, allowing them to determine whether to change the spacecraft/space station's flight path. Based on 1 SPCS mission analysis, and its predecessor units, NASA has moved the Space Shuttle 12 times and the International Space Station five times since 1981. [7] In June 1995, the unit tracked the U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis during its historic rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir. The unit also compiled a catalog of space objects.[8][9]

The 1 SPCS also contained international personnel, such as Canadian military, since SSA was not just a U.S. problem.[6]

In 2006, Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of NORAD directed a study on the continued use of the hardened command post at Cheyenne Mountain in view of what was perceived as diminished threats.[10] The decision to close Cheyenne Moungain required a unit move. The unit moved to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California in 2007 to better coordinate activities with the Joint Space Operations Center, it lost over 150 years of expert civilian experience.[11](archive returns only an error message)

The unit was inactivated on 9 Jun 2008, and its mission and members integrated into the 614th Air and Space Operations Center / Joint Space Operations Center.[12] Unconfirmed sources state that Cheyenne Mountain may retain some capability to cover the 1 SPCS mission, if required.[13] At the time of inactivation, 106

• 1st Space Wing, 1 December 1989
• 73d Space Surveillance Group (later 73d Space Group), 28 February 1992
• 721st Space Group, 24 June 1994
• 21st Operations Group, 26 April 1995 – c. 9 June 2008
• Air Force Space Command to activate or inactivate as needed, 11 February 2009

Attached to 21st Space Wing, 27 February 2009[14]

• Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base (later Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station), Colorado, 1 December 1989
• Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, 31 July 2007 - 9 June 2008
• Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, 27 February 2009 – present[14]

• Sloan, Elinor C. (2005). Security and Defence in the Terrorist Era. Quebec, Quebec, Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773573208. Retrieved May 20, 2017. (link to Google Books Play)