--- title: "Space Force Launches Satellite to Detect Enemy Missiles" description: "Space Force Satellite The US Space Force successfully launched a satellite on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that’s meant to build out an early missile detection system, The Hill reports. The massive 197-foot rocket took off at around 1:30 pm on Tuesday from the Space Force’s launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. […]" date: "2021-05-20" modified: "2021-05-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-force-satellite-enemy-missiles" categories: - "Space" - "Space Force" tags: - "missile defense" - "missiles" - "space force" - "the digest" --- # Space Force Launches Satellite to Detect Enemy Missiles ![The US Space Force successfully launched a satellite on board a ULA Atlas V rocket that's meant to build out an early missile detection system.]() *\Image: Lockheed Martin\* ## Space Force Satellite The US Space Force successfully launched a satellite on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, building out an existing missile detection system, [*CBS News* reports](). The 197-foot rocket took off on Tuesday from the Space Force's launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It's yet another sign that the Space Force is playing an increasingly prominent role within the American military complex, despite being the youngest service branch of the US Armed Forces. ## Tracking Missiles The satellite on board the rocket is an upgraded version of existing satellites that make up the service's Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), a space surveillance network meant to provide early missile warnings. The system works by picking up infrared heat signatures of soaring missiles and tracking them to give forces back on the ground advanced notice. "The need for SBIRS systems has never been more critical," Tom McCormick, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Overhead Persistent Infrared Missions division, told *CBS*. "The threat of ballistic missile technology is spreading around the world, adversaries who we once held at geographic arm's length now tout their development of this technology." "The world is a more threatening place now with more than 1,000 ballistic missile launches occurring globally every year," McCormick said in an [official statement](). McCormick also described the SBIRS as the "tip of the spear, or bell ringer, that a launch has occurred and something is coming." Tuesday's launch comes after liftoff was delayed for roughly 24 hours due to issues with the launch pad system. In the upcoming weeks, thrusters on board the SBIRS satellite will nudge it into a geosynchronous orbit, allowing it to remain stationary over the same region. **READ MORE:** [Space Force launches billion-dollar satellite to warn of missile launches]() \[*CBS News*\] **More on Space Force:** *[Space Force Commander Fired After Claiming Leftism in Military]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()