Space Force already has at least one ‘Space Ranger’ and several “Space Cowboys” who’ve completed an infamous “spur ride” with 1st Infantry Division cavalry scouts. But now the newest military service will have its own special operations component.
First reported by Hope Seck for Sandboxx News, the smallest branch plans to stand up its own component inside U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, which oversees the missions and operations of elite units troops like Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets.
The Guardians won’t be crawling through mud or eating snakes, but will be teamed up with and work to support special operators under SOCOM’s operational control as part of Space Force Special Operations Command.
“There is no definite timeline associated with the standup of other service components, including the Space Force service component to SOCOM, [Space Force Special Operations Command], but the Space Force will continue to identify requirements to meet the growing demands of combatant commanders’ space needs,” a Space Force spokesperson told Task & Purpose.” Currently, there is a Space Force Special Operations Element at MacDill Air Force Base that supports SOCOM.”
According to a March 2026 statement for the record of testimony before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations, in 2025 SOCOM “established the Space Force Special Operations Command to deliver specialized space personnel and capabilities to our units responsible for campaigning, our [theater special operations commands].”
A Space Force spokesperson clarified for Task & Purpose that while the command was technically “established” in 2025, it has not been stood up or fully manned.
Though the air-conditioned control centers where Space Force guardians watch radar scopes and interpret intelligence signals don’t immediately bring to mind the grubby reality of special ops missions, leaders in the special operations world have long seen space ops as their next frontier.
The Army’s top special operations commander, Lt. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, has made a habit of appearing at conferences and other public events with his counterparts who command the Army’s space and cyber commands.
Teaming up the brawniest troops with the techiest, Braga said, will be a key in future conflicts.
“The Cyber-Space-SOF Triad provides one of these solutions,” Braga said in an Army release. “It is a ‘Modern-Day Triad’ designed to converge unique accesses, capabilities, authorities, understanding and effects in many of the same ways we have implemented combined arms operations.”
In other words, when special ops guys go charging into a fight, they want as much space-based intel and as many sneaky digital tricks as possible.
The service is also establishing components to support other commands.
“The Space Force is standing up service components to the combatant commands, with six service components activated thus far including [U.S Space Forces – Indo-Pacific], [U.S. Space Forces – Central], [U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Africa], [U.S. Space Forces – Space], [U.S. Space Forces – Korea ], and [U.S. Space Forces – Japan],” a Space Force spokesperson told Task & Purpose. “These standups are a critical step in normalizing the presentation of space forces and providing clarity of command relationships, roles, and responsibilities in the Joint Force and across all theaters.”