A Space Force Guardian monitors a computer workstation during operations
A U.S. Space Force Guardian assigned to Space Delta 5 monitors a computer workstation at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Dec. 18, 2025. Photo: U.S. Space Force via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The Space Force activated a dedicated component command for U.S. Special Operations Command, its ninth component command, according to a Space Force announcement and an internal memo first reported by Axios. Space Forces Special Operations, or SPACEFOR-SOC, activated October 7.

The new component command will be headquartered at MacDill AFB, Florida, home of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The new command will be led by a colonel. The Space Force special operations element that has resided at MacDill AFB for years will now have a new field command structure to organize, train, equip, and represent space forces in the special operations community. A formal ceremony is planned for November 2, when the commander of the new command is expected to be named.

SPACEFOR-SOC will sit beside the special operations commands of the other services: U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC), Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), and Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC). The Space Force already has components at Northern, Southern, Central, Space and Indo-Pacific Commands, as well as a combined element for European and Africa Commands. The Space Force also has teams in Japan and Korea.

The new command will organize and train space forces in order to enable and support special operations utilizing satellite communications, navigation, intelligence, and electronic warfare. It will be led by a colonel, a lower rank than the generals who lead several other components, which points to a modest initial size. The activation is part of the Space Force's plans to grow to 25,000 Guardians by the end of fiscal 2031, up from around 11,000 today.

Activating the new space component took over 18 months. Initial plans for a space component were outlined in the March 2025 SOCOM posture statement to Congress. Funding for the new component in the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act was withheld until the Space Force could develop and present a plan and justify a separate command.

Recently SOF has benefited from space, cyber, air and naval forces delivering "layered effects to create a virtual pathway through defended airspace" in the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, SOCOM commander Adm. Frank Bradley told the SOF Week conference in May. Delta Force operators, flown by the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, went into Maduro's compound in Caracas after air defenses had been suppressed.