A space force is a military branch that conducts space warfare.

As of 2019, one country has an independent space force. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force was established in 2016 to consolidate Chinese space and cyber operations. The Russian Space Forces was an independent organization that existed from 1992 to 1997 and again from 2001 to 2011. It was reestablished in 2015 as a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

In the United States, the U.S. Space Command was one of the unified combatant commands (UCC) from 1985 until it was merged into the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in 2002, with its responsibilities primarily taken over by the U.S. Air Force’s Space Command, a subordinate command of STRATCOM. It was announced in August 2018 that U.S. Space Command would be re-established as an UCC.

On June 18, 2018, the United States announced a proposal to create the United States Space Force as a new branch of the United States Armed Forces, and on August 9, 2018, further announced a plan to have the new service established by 2020.