The U.S. Space Force formally took over the U.S. Army’s military satellite communications mission, marking the consolidation of all Department of Defense satcom functions under one service branch.
Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, passed 53rd Signal Battalion colors to Space Operations Command chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting at a ceremony that took place Monday at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado.
Prior to the transfer, the battalion held payload and transmission responsibility over constellations of Defense Satellite Communications System and Wideband Global System satellites.
The 53rd Space Operations Squadron, part of SpOC’s Space Delta 8, will now handle the constellations that were built to offer connectivity for the U.S. president and partners of the country that perform operations across the globe.
USSF added its SATCOM Office will oversee four regional support hubs located in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii and Germany.
Monday’s ceremony also marked the transfer of 500 military and civilian Department of the Army positions to the Department of the Air Force.