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Library > Fact Sheets > 21st Space Operations Squadron
21ST SPACE OPERATIONS SQUADRON
The 21st Space Operations Squadron, a unit of the 50th Network Operations Group, 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., is the host unit of Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale, Calif., 37 miles southeast of San Francisco.
MISSION
The mission of 21st SOPS is to plan and conduct specialized communications for a wide spectrum of Department of Defense, allied, civil and commercial space systems. 21st SOPS is a squadron that is rich in tradition. Every Space Shuttle mission to date has been supported from Onizuka AFS. The squadron monitors, maintains and updates the status of Air Force Satellite Control Network resources and provides status, configurations and readiness of controlled resources to multiple users and command centers.
OPERATIONS
The squadron supports DoD-assigned space missions by operating, maintaining and providing logistical support for the common user resources of the AFSCN. The 21st SOPS Network Operations Center at Onizuka AFS is the prime AFSCN resource for fault isolation/detection for the primary and additional operational switch replacement communication links. It monitors, maintains and updates the status of AFSCN communication resources; and provides status, configurations and readiness of controlled resources to multiple users and command centers. It also manages communications systems for network operations and maintains and operates base communications.
21st SOPS provides access to the worldwide AFSCN and specialized support to the international space community by providing network communications. The unit is also responsible for maintaining two 60-foot satellite communication antennas and one 33-foot Data Link Terminal.
Its sister unit, 22nd SOPS at Schriever AFB, schedules tracking station usage for satellite operators at Schriever AFB and other locations, which ensures users can communicate (through the tracking stations) with the satellites for which they are responsible. A standby system at Onizuka AFS mirrors the scheduling area at 22nd SOPS, providing back up for this important mission.
21st SOPS provides resources to operate and maintain the Onizuka facility and to provide limited administrative and support services to base units and agencies, including security, civil engineering and safety.
In 2005 the Base Realignment and Closure process identified the Air Force missions at Onizuka AFS to be realigned to Vandenberg AFB and Onizuka AFS to close by Sep 2011.
The 21st SOPS commander is the installation commander for Onizuka AFS.
HISTORY
The birth of the nation's National Security Space Enterprise presence in space was the Corona photo intelligence gathering satellite program. Recently declassified, this program convinced the Air Force that a dedicated unit was needed to provide satellite-tracking. In April of 1959, the 6594th Test Wing was activated with its temporary headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. In 1960, land was purchased in Sunnyvale to form the Air Force Satellite Test Center. Construction on the "Blue Cube" was completed in 1968, and on Jan. 1, 1971, the Sunnyvale facilities became Sunnyvale Air Force Station. The installation was renamed to Onizuka Air Force Station on July 24, 1986, in honor of Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, who lost his life in the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion.
21st SOPS rose out of this rich history. It was activated on Oct. 1, 1991, and within one year, 21st SOPS absorbed the roles of the 2nd Satellite Tracking Group Operations Division and the 1999th Communications Squadron Operations Division. After the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Committee directed realignment of Onizuka AFS, 21st SOPS absorbed the roles of the 750th Space Group and all subordinate units and the 5th Space Operations Squadron.
(Current as of June 2008)
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