US Space Force
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the United States Armed Forces, established in December 2019 as the sixth independent military service. Space Force operates as part of the Department of the Air Force, responsible for organizing, training, and equipping space forces to protect US and allied interests in space and provide space capabilities to the joint force.
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DSP and Fast Walker Operations
Space Force inherited oversight of the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite constellation from the former Air Force Space Command. DSP satellites have been detecting Fast Walkers — objects entering or leaving Earth's atmosphere at extreme speeds — since at least 1972. The program continues under Space Force management, working in coordination with NORAD for aerospace warning and space domain awareness missions.
Space Force's Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs serves as NORAD's headquarters, placing the two organizations in close operational coordination for tracking objects in near-Earth space.
FOIA Denials on Fast Walker Data
In late 2023, Space Force issued a decisive final denial to John Greenewald's FOIA request for Fast Walker information. The denial cited FOIA Exception One, covering information "to be kept secret in the interest of National Defense or foreign policy."
This 2023 denial followed a decade of similar refusals by Space Force's predecessor organizations, establishing that Fast Walker data remains among the most highly classified information held by US military space commands.
Fast Walker Terminology to Evade Disclosure
Space Force, NORAD, and the Department of Defense use the technical designation "Fast Walker" (and "Slow Walker") to categorize objects detected in space, distinct from "UFO" or "UAP" terminology applied to atmospheric phenomena. This terminological distinction allows these organizations to deny FOIA requests for "UFO" data while continuing to collect information on spacebound unidentified objects under different classification protocols.