Space Force to refine ‘orbital warfare’ maneuvers with new prototype

Space Force guardians have been expanding their terrestrial and orbital infrastructure for months, and this month they gained a new asset: a prototype that will let them train in the kind of “orbital warfare” the service wants to master.

Launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on Feb. 12 and designated USSF-87, it was originally announced to be carrying two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) assets — themselves meant to help with space-based surveillance — but there was one more onboard. Combat Forces Command Commander Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon told journalists at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air Warfare Symposium about the third, and gave some initial details on how it will be used by Space Force guardians. Air & Space Forces Magazine first reported on the news. 

While specifics are scarce, given the nature of GSSAP, past releases and public documents, like a 2016 report from the Defense Department, note that “the GSSAP system consists of satellites and a ground segment that controls the satellites and receives and processes GSSAP mission data,” and a Space Force fact sheet from 2020, says that “GSSAP satellites collect space situational awareness data allowing for more accurate tracking and characterization of man-made orbiting objects.”

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Space Force’s exact definition and doctrine for orbital warfare remains unclear — although systems fielded for it have been confirmed to be nicknamed after Norse mythology — but according to Gannon’s comments this week, guardians will focus on maneuvering orbital assets to position them for offensive purposes, or move to avoid adversaries. 

The manufacturer and exact nature of the device was not revealed, but Gagnon told reporters that the new tool is distinct from previous ones. Assets used for training already in orbit are like a civilian aircraft, while this is comparable to military aircraft, he added. 

“They’re going to work on driving that spacecraft in a way that we couldn’t drive spacecraft before,” Gagnon told journalists on Wednesday.

Space Delta 9, the Space Force unit focused on orbital warfare, will operate the new prototype. The unit also oversees the X-37B space plane, the service’s secretive uncrewed vehicle currently in orbit on its eighth mission. Although Gagnon did not mention it specifically, the launch and activation of a new maneuver training vehicle fits into previously revealed plans for an orbital opposition force, put out last year, that would allow guardians to train for theoretical space-based conflicts against similarly deployed enemy systems in low-Earth orbit. 

During the same event, Gagnon also talked to reporters vaguely about “protective measures” for American satellites. He did not go into specifics, but other developments by the service suggest what it could entail. 

Space Force began seriously talking about the concept of orbital warfare last year. Although the service had prioritized expanding its infrastructure in space and countering enemy satellites, it wasn’t until last spring that officials started talking about using kinetic and non-kinetic weapons to target enemy systems from space.

CORRECTION: 3.3.2026; This article was updated after publication to reflect that the Space Force’s Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program includes orbital assets, as well as a ground component.

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