--- title: "Space Force wants an opposition force in orbit" description: "Space Force is looking at putting satellites into space to serve as a permanent set of aggressors for training exercises." date: "2025-10-04" modified: "2025-10-04" authors: - name: "Nicholas Slayton" job_title: "Contributing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/nicholas-slayton/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/space-force-aggressor-satellites-training/" categories: - "Military Branches" - "News" - "Space Force" --- # Space Force wants an opposition force in orbit ![U.S. Space Force Guardians monitor workstations in the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. The center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week; continuously coordinating, planning, integrating, synchronizing and executing space operations; providing tailored space effects on demand to support combatant commanders; and accomplishing national security objectives. (Composited images are used over the monitors for operational security.)]() *Guardians track data at the Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Space Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Luke Kitterman* The U.S. [Space Force]() is hoping to get its own permanent opposition force for training, this time in orbit. Specifically, the service is looking at sending up satellites into space to serve as aggressors to help Guardians prepare for potential conflicts. Speaking to reporters last month at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said that Space Force was looking at putting real satellites in orbit so that terrestrial aggressor teams can operate them rather than relying on simulators or virtual exercises. The War Zone first [reported]() on the proposal. Pushing for more training is not a new directive at Space Force, but aiming to launch new pieces of equipment into space specifically for that role is. So far no satellites have been put in orbit for this specific purpose; Space Force has been conducting a number of launches but those have been towards building out its array of missile detection tools and electronic signal intercept capabilities. operational test and training infrastructure The idea, per Saltzman, is like the use of aggressors by the Air Force, or red teams and opposition forces the other branches use for their training. There is some background in the military for these kinds of OPFOR operations; the Army maintained an electronic and information warfare command for more than two decades that often served as the red team for cybersecurity training exercises. Currently Space Force units train via simulations, in part because of the logistics of space operations. The service has set up aggressor units, and some joint exercises with other parts of the military have integrated both ground-based teams and in-orbit satellite tracking to coordinate operations. This idea would help Guardians test satellite versus satellite conflicts, specifically in issues such as adversaries trying to jam American ones or otherwise disable them. “There’s nothing like propagating \[radio frequencies\] through the atmosphere, out to orbit and tracking satellites,” Saltzman told reporters. “It has to happen for real.” As such, he said, it will require the service to acquire more satellites and reserve some specifically for those training purposes. The proposal comes as the service branch pursues its vision of being able to carry out “[orbital warfare]().” That exact vision remains somewhat hazy, but it does involve Space Force expanding its offensive capabilities in space. Since its creation in 2019, Space Force has been expanding its network of satellites in orbit and tracking systems on the ground. As such, the service and other militaries are expanding potential capabilities for orbital conflict, from building out the ability to jam enemy satellites and systems or use more direct means to hurt arrays, including direct kinetic strikes to physically destroy opposition forces’ infrastructure. ## Author Nicholas Slayton is a contributing editor for Task & Purpose, covering conflict for over 12 years, from the Arab Spring to the war in Ukraine. His previous reporting can be found on the non-profit Aslan Media, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, The New Republic, The American Prospect, Architectural Digest, The Daily Beast, and the Los Angeles Downtown News. You can reach him at nicholas@taskandpurpose.com or find him on Twitter @NSlayton and Bluesky at @nslayton.bsky.social. ### Author social links [Twitter]()