Active 1966-1975; 1990-2004 Type Space Control | Country United States | |
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Branch United States Air Force Role Optical Space Surveillance Part of Air Force Space Command/14th Air Force/1st Space Wing/73d Space Surveillance Group | ||
The United States Air Force's 18th Space Control Squadron (18 SPCS) was a space surveillance unit located at Edwards AFB, California. Before its inactivation, the 18th SPCS operated optical sensors for the Ground-based Electro Optical Deep Space System (GEODSS).
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Mission
The mission of the 18th SPCS is to provide direct support to USCINCSPACE’s space control mission through optical space surveillance. This includes detection, tracking, identification, and special signature collection of near space and deep space objects.
History
18th SPSS was the optical portion of the United States Air Force's Space Surveillance Network. They were responsible for operating four worldwide GEODSS sites, in addition to the Transportable Optical System (TOS), and the Maui Space Surveillance Complex (MSSC). The focal point for all optical command and control was centralized at the Optical Command, Control and Communications Facility (OC3F). The 18 SPSS became part of the 1st Space Wing, Air Force Space Command, on 1 February 1990. The unit was reassigned from the 1st Space Wing to the 73d Space Group on 15 May 1992. The 18th SPSS relocated to Edwards Air Force Base, California in July 1995. The 73rd Space Group was inactivated in May 1995 and all units were then assigned to the 21st Space Wing. With a force-wide renaming of space units, the 18th SPSS became the 18th Space Control Squadron (18 SCS) in February 2003. This renaming did not last long, however, since the unit was inactivated in June 2004, with all detachments falling under the 21st Operations Group.