Prologue
“If there is intelligent life in the universe, other than ourselves, then we must be prepared to greet it, appropriately; whether peacefully or not. To do otherwise is to court certain disaster—our own history of what happens militarily when a more technologically advanced civilization deals with a less technologically advanced civilization has shown us that, repeatedly. We have a responsibility not only to our fellow Americans, but to our fellow human beings worldwide as well, to do whatever is required of us to insure the continuation of our species at any cost.”—President Barack Obama, an excerpt from his redacted “extraterrestrial event” speech in December 2016 before the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
United States Space Force
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world’s only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space Force is part of the Department of the Air Force, one of the three civilian-led military departments within the Department of Defense. The Space Force, through the Department of the Air Force, is overseen by the secretary of the Air Force, a civilian political appointee who reports to the secretary of defense, and is appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. The military head of the Space Force is the chief of space operations who is typically the most senior Space Force officer. The chief of space operations exercises supervision over the Space Force’s units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Semper Supra (march)
“Semper Supra” (Latin for “Always Above”) is the official march of the United States Space Force, composed in 2022 by James Teachenor and Sean Nelson.
“Semper Supra” is named after the U.S. Space Force’s official motto, Semper Supra. After the creation of the U.S. Space Force on December 20, 2019, United States Air Force Senior Airman Daniel Sanchez – who researched the mottos of other military branches and chose “Semper Supra” because of both its ease of pronunciation and the alliteration of both the Latin phrase and its English translation “Always Above” — proposed the motto, and the U.S. Space Force officially adopted it on July 22, 2020
United States Space Command
United States Space Command (USSPACECOM or SPACECOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers (62 miles) and greater above mean sea level. U.S. Space Command is responsible for the operational employment of space forces that are provided by the uniformed services of the Department of Defense.
Space Command was originally created in September 1985 to provide joint command and control for all military forces in outer space and coordinate with the other combatant commands. SPACECOM was disestablished in 2002, and its responsibilities and forces were merged into United States Strategic Command. A second incarnation of Space Command was established on 29 August 2019, with a reemphasized focus on space as a warfighting domain.
Space Command’s mission is: “To conduct operations in, from, and through space to deter conflict, and if necessary, defeat aggression, deliver space combat power for the Joint/Combined force, and defend U.S. vital interests with allies and partners.”
“A starship utilizing active camouflage: The Holy Grail of Stealth, finally. Hiding in plain sight, it subverts your gaze. Likewise, in outer space, it is indistinguishable from the starscape at all sublight velocities. Additionally, no warp bubble’s telling wake, whatsoever, as its velocity approaches c, the speed of light. Neither radar nor lidar can detect it. And, it is as quiet as the Abyss, when it moves through atmosphere. Shock and Awe: When you touch it, you can hear it scream in your mind, as if it were the Eater of Worlds.”—General Warren Keffer (USSF), describing the universal starship proposal
Season One
Anthology series episodes to be published–