Naval Satellite Operations Center
Naval Satellite Operations Center emblem.jpg
NAVSOC unit emblem
Active1962–present[1]
Country United States
Branch United States Navy
RoleSatellite communications
Part ofU.S. Naval Information Forces (ADCON)
United States Tenth Fleet (OPCON)
HeadquartersPoint Mugu, California, U.S.
Insignia
NWU Type III shoulder patch
Naval Satellite Operations Center patch.jpg

Naval Satellite Operations Center (NAVSOC) is the United States Navy command responsible for operating the Mobile User Objective System and Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On satellite constellations, providing global communications to the United States Armed Forces.[1][2]

In September 2021, it was announced that NAVSOC would be transferred from the Navy to the newly-independent United States Space Force under Space Delta 8.[3][4][5]

History

NAVSOC, the first military space operations command in history,[6] was founded in April 1962 as the Navy Astronautics Group (NAVASTROGRU or NAG). Tasked with operating the Navy's satellites, the unit commanded the Navy Navigational Satellite System, also known as Transit - the world's first satellite navigation system.[7] Navy Astronautics Group was redesignated as Naval Satellite Operations Center (NAVSOC) in June 1990.

NAVSOC has operated military satellites of many types:

Constellation Abbreviation First launch Purpose
Transit NAVSAT or NNSS 1959 Navigation
Fleet Satellite Communications System FLTSATCOM or FLTSAT 1978 Communication
Geodetic Satellite[8] GEOSAT 1985 Earth observation
Ultra High Frequency Follow-On UFO 1993 Communication
Geodetic Satellite Follow-On[9] GFO 1998 Earth observation
Mobile User Objective System MUOS 2012 Communication

Command Structure

Former site:

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ a b "(U) NAVSOC". www.wslfweb.org.
  2. ^ "50th Space Wing's satellites, ground systems buoy NAVSOC". Schriever Space Force Base.
  3. ^ "Space Force reveals which Army and Navy units are moving to the space branch". SpaceNews. 21 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Army, Navy SATCOM Mission Areas Shifting to U.S. Space Force". United States Space Force.
  5. ^ "Army, Navy satellite operations to consolidate under Space Force". SpaceNews. 23 June 2021.
  6. ^ "From the Sea to the Stars A Chronicle of the U.S. Navy's Space and Space-related Activities, 1944-2009". Naval History and Heritage Command. 2010.
  7. ^ "U.S. Navy operates on Schriever". Schriever Space Force Base. 13 October 2016.
  8. ^ "From the Sea to the Stars A Chronicle of the U.S. Navy's Space and Space-related Activities, 1944-2009". Naval History and Heritage Command. 2010.
  9. ^ "GFO (GEOSAT Follow-On) Satellite". eoPortal Directory. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
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