Space Force Activates SOUTHCOM Component

The Space Force celebrated the activation of its component under U.S. Southern Command in a Jan. 21 ceremony—though it did reveal the organization became operational Dec. 1, 2025, presumably meaning it contributed to Operation Absolute Resolve, the Jan. 3 mission to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and take him to the U.S. for trial.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Air Force Undersecretary Matthew Lohmeier, and acting SOUTHCOM Commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan L. Pettus were all on hand for the activation ceremony at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. Col. Brandon P. Alford leads the new organization, Space Forces Southern, which will be co-located alongside Air Forces Southern. 

“This new organization reaffirms our commitment to address local threats of all shapes and sizes, ranging from malign state actors to violent extremist organizations and to transnational criminal organizations,” Saltzman said at the ceremony. “Space Forces Southern will continue to be a force for good in the region, using space to maintain peace and stability, and defend the homeland.”

Components serve as organizational links between the services and combatant commands, presenting forces for operations. 

In late 2022, the Space Force made a point of establishing its first component under U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, reflecting the strategic focus on the “pacing challenge” of China. Since then, the service has established components for sub-unified combatant commands in Korea and Japan, a component for U.S. Central Command, and a combined component for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command. 

Plans have been in the works to create Space Forces Southern for some time now, but they likely gained new urgency after the release of the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy in November, which place a greater priority on the Western Hemisphere. 

“The activation of Space Forces Southern affirms a simple and powerful idea: we are one hemisphere, stronger together,” Alford said the cermony. “Bound together by geography, values, and a shared future above us—connected by shared challenges and shared opportunity.”

U.S. Southern Command as a whole has seen a major increase in activity in recent months as part of Operation Southern Spear, the mission to combat drug trafficking and pressure the regime of Maduro, and Operation Absolute Resolve.

Space assets have played a role in all this; according to photos taken Dec. 4 and released a few weeks later, Guardians deployed to Puerto Rico during the buildup of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine specifically noted that U.S. Space Command contributed to Operation Absolute Resolve. He did not explain how, exactly, and officials have largely declined to elaborate, citing operational security. 

“Space-based capabilities such as Positioning, Navigation and Timing and satellite communications are foundational to all modern military activities. As such, to protect the Joint Force from space-enabled attack and ensure their freedom of movement, U.S. Space Command possesses the means and willingness to employ combat-credible capabilities that deter and counter our opponents and project power in all warfighting domains,” a SPACECOM spokesperson previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine. 

Saltzman also referenced recent events in South America and the Caribbean.

“As we clearly saw in recent operations in the SOUTHCOM [area of responsibility], without space, kill chains don’t close, our strategic advantage evaporates, and we can’t complete our joint missions,” Saltzman said.

While SPACECOM is responsible for providing effects from orbit, it still needs to coordinate with SOUTHCOM and Space Forces Southern.