PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Combat Forces Command’s Mission Delta 2 – Space Domain Awareness played a critical role for spaceflight safety with the April 1 launch of Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed lunar fly-by in more than 50 years.
Guardians across the U.S. Space Force enabled safe ascent, precise tracking, and continuous spaceflight safety support through the cislunar corridor, underscoring the Space Force’s central role in America’s return to the moon.
The planning, preparation and execution of Artemis II is not a success story for any one entity, but numerous agencies, organizations and units working cohesively to track, verify, deconflict, and resolve an untold number of variables for a safe, successful launch.
“We recognize that this was a whole-of-team effort to ensure success of the launch and completion of the mission,” said Col. Barry Croker, commander of Mission Delta 2 – Space Domain Awareness. “The spaceflight safety piece is a small footprint our overall space domain awareness mission but undoubtedly has a huge impact. I’m extremely proud of the efforts harnessed by our civilian and uniformed Guardians to achieve this national milestone.”
Mission Delta 2 detects, tracks, and identifies objects in space through a global network of ground and spacebased sensors and telescopes, providing the space domain awareness that underpins crewed spaceflight safety, from the International Space Station to lunar missions like Artemis II.
Beyond the launch pad, Artemis required space operator support from the 18th and 19th Space Defense Squadrons at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., and Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, Virginia, respectively.
“As the pioneers for cislunar space domain awareness, we’ve developed and honed our ability to safeguard missions like Artemis II. It’s extremely gratifying to see our unit’s skillset applied to this milestone that people around the world are watching,” said Lt. Col. Jose Almanzar, commander of Mission Delta 2’s 19th Space Defense Squadron. “What they don’t see are the Guardians on operations floors tracking man-made objects in Earth’s orbit, conducting conjunction assessments, and providing critical data to users around the world – all essential data to enable safe passage for Artemis II.”
Guardians continuously screen for potential conjunctions, characterize launch and onorbit events, and coordinate with partners to safeguard human spaceflight.
To track and assess data on more than 48,900 objects orbiting Earth – 12,600 are active spacecraft – Guardians require modernized capabilities that meet growing demands. In September 2025, Combat Forces Command achieved operational acceptance for Advance Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS) to better enable space domain monitoring.
“We leveraged ATLAS to deliver enhanced space domain awareness and launch analysis operations in support of Artemis II. ATLAS has modernized how we track, analyze and protect space operations while enabling faster data integration and precision tracking during critical launch and mission phases,” said Lt. Col Laurel Jodice, commander of Mission Delta 2’s 18th Space Defense Squadron. “The 18th Space Defense Squadron is proud to support Artemis II by helping ensure astronauts operate in a safe, secure, and sustainable space environment.”
Pivotal to intercoastal space domain awareness mission collaboration for the two space defense squadrons was the use of the Space Mission Platform, which linked both coasts through one synchronized system to enhance agility, responsiveness, and, ultimately, mission success. SMP was a rapid operationalization of capability, requiring only 18 months from design to fielding at the 18th and 19th Space Defense Squadrons and achieving operational acceptance in 2025.
Mission Delta 2 continues to prioritize advancing capabilities to meet a range of mission requirements, from the needs of warfighters at combatant commands around the world to missions like Artemis II.
The historic Artemis II mission serves as the ultimate demonstration of these capabilities, allowing Space Force Guardians to provide an additional layer of spaceflight safety support to partners at NASA.
As NASA’s astronauts journey around the moon and return to Earth, the Space Force will continue to provide persistent awareness, timely analysis, and coordinated support to keep crewed spaceflight safe – today and as humanity pushes farther into cislunar space and beyond.