WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Army announced it established its newest branch, the Space Operations Branch, marking an historic milestone in the service’s continuous transformation to meet the challenges of modern, multidomain warfare.
The Space Operations Branch consolidates and formalizes the career paths of the Army’s space professionals. The new branch brings together Army Space Operations Officers, currently designated as Functional Area 40, and enlisted Tactical Space Operations Specialists, designated under the recently established Military Occupational Specialty 40D.
“Land power requires warfighting expertise in all domains. What makes me proud is that our Army is not just building a capability, we’re growing professionals at every echelon,” said Gen. Christopher LaNeve, U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff. “That’s what the 40D MOS is about—Soldiers delivering the foundational excellence our Joint Force depends on.”
Space Operations Branch serves as a critical component in the utilization of space capabilities and supports the ongoing transformation of Army force structure for multidomain operations.
Combat credibility demands resilient space systems and dedicated counterspace capabilities to protect U.S. assets and deny adversaries the ability to target joint forces from outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Army space professionals ensure our forces maintain the initiative and operate from positions of relative advantage across all domains.
The new Space Branch provides highly trained, ready and deployable Soldiers and formations, equipped to deliver specialized capabilities to enable successful Army and joint force operations while effectively denying, disrupting and degrading adversary operations within the space domain.
“The Army is the largest user of space capabilities in the joint force, and space integration is absolutely critical to multidomain operations at every echelon,” said Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, commanding general, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. “Establishing the Space Operations Branch is an important step in the Army’s continuous transformation. It provides the Army with the professional structure to deliver space-based effects directly to our Soldiers and units at the tactical edge enabling commanders to fight and win in a contested, multidomain environment.”
Establishing the new branch also relieves operational pressure, primarily on the ADA, Signal, and MI branches, which previously provided enlisted personnel to execute space missions on temporary tours. The transition allows these branches to decrease non-mission-essential billets and redistribute Soldiers to critical vacancies, optimizing readiness across the wider Army.
The Army currently integrates hundreds of thousands of space-enabled systems to enhance maneuver and enable multidomain operations. This structural transformation ensures the service keeps pace with the growing space operations force structure required across the joint force, particularly within its modern multidomain task forces and theater strike effects groups. The Space Operations Branch will produce well-rounded experts to deliver close space support and space interdiction capabilities that maneuver commanders depend on to gain and maintain the initiative.
The transition to the new branch will leverage existing training pipelines. Officer and enlisted training will continue to be conducted at the Space and Missile Defense School, part of Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s Center of Excellence in Colorado Springs, Colo. Eligible Soldiers in grades E-3 through E-9 have the opportunity to request reclassification to MOS 40D through a central selection board process, with the transfer window officially opening in October 2026. Officers may continue to request acceptance to become FA40s, including Assured Functional Area Transfer, after serving in their basic branch.
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