VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. –
U.S. Space Forces – Space (S4S) leaders used the 2026 State of Vandenberg event March 12 to highlight the command’s growing role as the nation’s integrator of global space effects, emphasizing allied partnerships, combat operations and the warfighting missions that support joint force success around the world.
The annual event brings together local community leaders, government officials and military partners to provide an update on missions and priorities across Vandenberg SFB and the organizations that call the installation home.
Royal Canadian Air Force Brig. Gen. Kyle Paul, Allied deputy Combined Joint Force Space Component commander, and U.S. Space Force Col. Keith Morris, deputy commander of Combat Delta 1-5 and the deputy director of the Combined Space Operations Center, presented alongside leadership from Space Launch Delta 30 and its strategic partners.
Paul emphasized the command’s expanding coalition partnerships and the increasing integration of Allied operators embedded at Vandenberg. S4S currently hosts 25 international partners, including a mix of liaison and exchange officers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom who work alongside U.S. personnel.
“Space is a team sport,” Paul said, echoing a sentiment from Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman. “It couldn’t be truer.”
Paul highlighted Operation Olympic Defender - a U.S. Space Command named activity including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States - as a mechanism for operationalizing allied space integration. Over the past year, the command conducted two historic satellite rendezvous proximity operations with France and the United Kingdom, bringing satellites from different nations into coordinated on-orbit formations for the first time. Paul said additional operations are planned for 2026.
Morris then detailed how these partnerships translate into warfighting capability, outlining how Combat Delta 1-5’s 25 tactical combat units deliver critical space effects including missile warning and tracking; positioning, navigation, and timing; and military satellite communications.
“Space is the ultimate high ground,” Morris said. “Without space, quite frankly, the Navy can’t safely travel across the ocean, the Army can’t hold that ground and take additional ground. The Marines can’t storm the beaches, and the Air Force can’t drop bombs down range.”
Morris noted that the Delta provides many of the forces for the Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg, the primary hub where U.S. and Allied partners coordinate global space effects.
Both leaders noted that 2026 marks U.S. Space Command’s “Year of Integration,” building on a deliberate framework for maturing space as a warfighting domain. From Vandenberg, those partnerships and operations ensure U.S. and Allied forces maintain the space capabilities needed to support missions around the world.
Paul also recognized the surrounding Central Coast community for its support of the service members and families stationed at Vandenberg.
“As we rotate in and out, this community makes this place feel like home,” Paul said. “You help make this a welcoming place for the Guardians, Airmen and families who serve here.”
That community support, leaders said, remains essential as Vandenberg’s strategic importance continues to grow.