page_title: 21st Space Wing
section_title: 21st Space Wing (1992–present)
hierarchical_section_title: 21st Space Wing / History / 21st Space Wing (1992–present)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System is responsible for tracking thousands of objects in space. The telescopes fall under the 21st Space Wing and is positioned at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Here, 216 photos captured over a 90 minute period are layered over one another, making the star trails come to life. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration by Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)
context_page_description: The 21st Space Wing was the United States Space Force's ground–based missile warning and space control wing. The 21st Space Wing was assigned to Space Operations Command and headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The 21st Space Wing controlled Peterson Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Thule Air Base, Clear Air Force Station, Cape Cod Air Force Station, and Cavalier Air Force Station. It was activated as a space wing on 15 May 1992, replacing the 1st Space Wing and 3rd Space Support Wing. The 21st Space Wing was inactivated on 24 July 2020 and replaced by the Peterson–Schriever Garrison.
context_section_description: On 15 May 1992, the 21st Space Wing (21 SW) was reactivated at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado and assigned to Air Force Space Command. The 21st Space Wing replaced Air Force Space Command's 1st Space Wing, which managed ground and space-based sensors, and the 3rd Space Support Wing, which was the host wing for Peterson Air Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. Replacing the 1st Space Wing and 3rd Space Support Wing with the 21st Space Wing was part of a larger Air Force initiative designed to preserve early Air Force flying heritage, and bestowed upon the 21st Space Wing the history and honors of the World War II-era 21st Fighter Group and 21st Bombardment Group. On 20 September 1993, the 21st Space Wing was assigned to the Air Force Space Command's Fourteenth Air Force.
  The 21st Space Wing's primary mission was missile warning, which was conducted via terrestrial and space-based sensors operated by the 21st Operations Group. The 2nd Space Warning Squadron, based at Buckley Air National Guard Base, and the 5th Space Warning Squadron, based Woomera Air Station, Australia, flew the Defense Support Program infra-red missile launch detection satellites. The 4th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, operated the Defense Support Program's Mobile Ground Station, before having its mission transferred to the Air National Guard's 137th Space Warning Squadron in 1997. On 1 October 1994 the 11th Space Warning Squadron was activated at Falcon Air Force Base to provide accurate and timely missile warning to theater forces through the Attack and Launch Early Reporting to Theater (ALERT) system.
  In addition to these space systems, the 21st Space Wing operated a number of terrestrial radar sites, spread across the world. The 6th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Cape Cod Air Force Station, 7th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Beale Air Force Base, 8th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Eldorado Air Force Station, and 9th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Robins Air Force Base all operated the Phased Array Warning System (PAVE PAWS), which had been in operation since the 1980s. The 10th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Cavalier Air Force Station, operated the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System (PARCS), which served as part of the sea launched ballistic missile warning network for the Arctic region. The 12th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Thule Air Base, Greenland, 13th Space Warning Squadron, stationed at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska, and a British detachment out of RAF Fylingdales operated the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) radar network. The Ballistic Missile Early Warning System had been in operation since the 1960s, and was updated to the Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPAR), which became operational at Thule Air Base in 1987, RAF Fylingdales in 1992, and at Clear Air Force Station in 2001. Due to budgetary reasons the 8th Space Warning Squadron and 9th Space Warning Squadron, and there radar systems, were inactivated in July 1995.
  In April 1995 the 21st Space Wing gained the 721st Space Group, which would later be redesignated the 721st Support Group, and in 2002 the 721st Mission Support Group, which oversaw operations at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. On 26 April 1995, the 73rd Space Group, which was stationed at Falcon Air Force Base and conducted space surveillance operations, was inactivated and its mission was assumed by the 21st Space Wing. The assimilation of the 73rd Space Wing brought a number of space surveillance units into the 21st Space Wing. The 19th Space Surveillance Squadron, which was stationed at Pirinclik Air Force Station and operated the AN/FPS-79 radar to monitory space and missile launches from the former Soviet Union, Russian Federation, and Middle East. 19 SPSS, through earlier units, had monitored space and missile launches from the Soviet Union starting in 1955, including the launches of Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1. The 20th Space Surveillance Squadron, stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, operated t
caption: United States Space Surveillance Network telescope.
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