Space Force

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) --  The Spark Tank 2025 semifinals were held Jan. 28 in the Pentagon. The Spark Tank production team presented the top 15 ideas, identified by 1,925 Airmen and Guardians casting nearly 35,000 pairwise votes and subject matter expert evaluations, to a panel co-chaired by the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and the vice chief of space operations.  Department of the Air Force executives reviewed the innovators’ pitch videos and discussed the merits of each idea, reaching consensus to identify the six finalists. Out of a record 441 submissions from across the Space Force and Air Force, the...

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFNS) --  U.S. Space Forces Korea held the first phase of POLARIS HAMMER – KOREA, a space warfighter inclusive command-and-control exercise, in coordination with the U.S. Space Force 392nd Combat Training Squadron located in Colorado Springs, at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Jan. 21-24.The exercise validates SPACEFOR-KOR’s ability to plan, coordinate, synchronize and execute space effects in support of Korean theater campaign objectives and will be held in three stages to enable a deliberate focus on the planning, execution and assessment of the space component at the operational level. “Last week’s event was the firs...

Tanegashima Space Center, Kagoshima, Japan (AFNS) --  A U.S. space domain awareness payload hosted on Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite 6 successfully launched on a Japanese H-3 launch vehicle from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on February 2. This is the first bilateral U.S. Japan cooperative space effort focused on national security, and the first of two launches as part of the JAXA Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Hosted Payload program. The satellite will be operated by Space Operations Command’s Mission Delta 2, which conducts Space Doma...

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFNS) --  The Department of Air Force updated a medical guidance memorandum, Jan. 24, 2025, to offer healthcare providers additional guidance when evaluating Airmen and Guardians for a Pseudofolliculitis Barbae, or PFB, diagnosis.PFB is a chronic inflammatory skin condition in response to the entrapment of recently cut, short hairs. In June 2020, the Air Force Medical Service established guidance for shaving profiles and implemented a five-year shaving profile for patients with PFB. However, the guidance did not offer medical providers clear language on the diagnosis of PFB, and it did not differentiate PFB from shaving irritation. The new profile guidance takes effect March 1, 2025, and distinguishes between mild, moderat...

SCHRIEVER SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) --  Best known for operating the Global Positioning System — a gold standard system that delivers position, navigation and timing signals to users around the world, Mission Delta 31 is equally committed to navigating the growth and development of its people. Through the Guardian and Airmen Development Program developed by Space Operations Command, MD 31 is fostering a new generation of leaders and equipping them with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to meet current and future demands of the U.S. Space Force.    Tech. Sgt. Kristeo Torres, 2nd Navigat...