WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on June 24 plans to formally establish the National Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 

The NSIC will be run by a new Space Force unit, Space Delta 18, responsible for analyzing foreign threats to the United States in the space domain. The space intelligence center will be co-located with the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. 

The center will be formed by transferring NASIC’s Space Analysis Squadron and Counter-Space Analysis Squadron to the Space Force. Col. Marqus Randall will serve as commander of the NSIC.

Standing up a separate organization focused on space has been a priority of the Space Force since it was established as an independent military branch in December 2019. Space Force intelligence analysts are responsible for discovering and analyzing raw data, recognizing and assessing usable intelligence from a variety of sources. 

The Space Force has an intelligence unit, Space Delta 7, at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, responsible for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that support military operations. The Space Delta 18 will support the space intelligence community that includes the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office.

Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...