Anthony J. Mastalir led the effort to establish U.S. Space Force as a key component of the Pentagon’s geographic combatant commands, starting with the high-priority Middle East and Indo-Pacific. Now, Maj. Gen. Mastalir has been assigned as the director of global space operations (J3) for U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM). Mastalir sat down with Apogee to talk about working with allies and partners in space before he moved on from his position in July 2025 as the first commander of U.S. Space Forces-Indo-Pacific (SFI), a component of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). He explained the Space Force’s efforts to integrate space power…
Apogee
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) annual Space Environment Report chronicles the health of Earth’s orbital domains — tracking changes, risks and progress in areas of satellite activity, space debris and mitigation strategies. Highly regarded by space agencies worldwide, the report’s findings hold significant implications for the future of scientific research, commercial and space defense operations, and the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. Following a year that saw exponential growth in satellite megaconstellations and increased risk from orbital debris — space junk — 2025 in many ways looks to continue that trendline. Consider these recent facts highlighted in the ESA…
Joint Exercise Cobra Gold, a cornerstone of U.S. military engagement in the Indo-Pacific for more than two decades, highlighted the integration of space capabilities. Space has become a critical operational domain, and the multinational effort to enhance interoperability and strengthen regional partnerships is more critical than ever. Cobra Gold 25, held February 25 to March 7 in Thailand, featured the space domain as its own component — rather than a subcomponent of another command — marking a “very, very special year” for the exercise, said Maj. Moises Rendon, strategy and plans division chief for U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific. “This is…
AFWERX, the United States Air Force’s innovation arm, is taking steps to deal with a big challenge in space defense — processing and analyzing the firehose of data from the growing number of man-made objects in space and their capacity to move and hide. Through its Small Business Innovation Research program, AFWERX is funding the development of Slingshot Aerospace’s RAPTOR tool — short for rapid analysis of photometric tracks for space object identification and behavior recognition. Under RAPTOR, Slingshot will use machine learning to track, analyze and report to U.S. Space Command on the behavior of objects in low Earth…
With their demanding training regimens and tip-of-the-spear mission sets, the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine commandos who make up special operations forces (SOF) hold a special place in the consciousness of the nation. Now, the newest service branch has earned a permanent spot in the group with the establishment of Space Force Special Operations Command. The move was revealed in testimony before Congress in March 2025 as Army Gen. Bryan P. Fenton, then commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, delivered the command’s annual posture statement. Fenton described the standup of the command as “advancing the nexus” among…
The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has launched the latest in a series of satellites that comprise its proliferated space architecture, marking a change from its approach of fielding large satellites in higher orbits to placing more and smaller spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The NROL-145 mission, the 10th batch of reconnaissance satellites in the proliferated architecture and the fourth batch this year, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in April 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the NRO said in a news release. The agency has orbited more than 200 satellites during the past two years,…
Rendezvous and proximity operations — one satellite sidling up to another — are on the rise and could signal either aggression or benign curiosity, according to a new report on security threats in space. Distinguishing between these intentions is key to keeping space safe, according to Space Threat Assessment 2025, published in April by the bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In its conclusion, the annual report echoed findings from previous years about growing space capabilities among United States adversaries and urged a U.S. response, including the orbiting of “bodyguard” satellites as protection for…
Calls to develop a military presence in space grew louder at the turn of the century: “Create and sustain within the government a trained cadre of military and civilian space professionals,” urged one seminal 2001 report from a special U.S. congressional commission. It would be two decades before Congress created a dedicated service branch in 2019. The new focus that the U.S. Space Force brought to military space training quickly touched off a broader evolution — across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, and among armed forces around the world. The pursuit of space capabilities during the past five…
New Zealand is taking steps to deter unwanted foreign interference in the island nation’s growing space-based infrastructure and its work in tracking and controlling spacecraft, space surveillance, and transferring data to and from spacecraft. A new regulatory regime took effect in July 2025 as a response to concerns raised by New Zealand’s intelligence service that some foreign entities had tried to establish space infrastructure there, Reuters reported. The attempts would have “assisted foreign military activity that could have harmed New Zealand interests,” the service said. No mention was made of threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) specifically, but the…
The French and United States militaries conducted what is described as the first bilateral rendezvous and proximity operation in space, advancing international cooperation as a central tenet of U.S. space defense strategy. Space Force Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM), revealed the operation in April 2025 at the 40th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Whiting said he was “tipping my cap” to French Maj. Gen. Philippe Adam and the French Space Command for the success of the undertaking. “Merci beaucoup, Philippe.” No details about the spacecraft involved or how the operation was conducted were released,…