The United States Air Force Academy is a prestigious institution, turning cadets not only into airmen these days, but also into guardians of the U.S. Space Force.
CBN News visited the Colorado Springs school to find out how they’re training the next generation to keep a watchful eye on space.
Transforming Cadets
“Critical state of health check complete and good, continuing,” says Cadet 1st Class James Foran as he assesses the situation, commanding an operation. He and his crew check the health of a satellite, upload a list of instructions for it to follow, and download data.
“So were there any issues with this?” CBN News asked.
“Not at all, that was the perfect pass,” he responded with a smile.
The U.S. Air Force Academy FalconSAT program is just one aspect of a rigorous education path, transforming cadets like Foran into Space Force officers.
“A nominal pass is what we always want – that’s the great thing – however, the things that kind of excite me is when things aren’t going perfectly, and you have to problem solve on the spot,” he shared.
“The cadets can actually build and operate and fly the satellites, and these satellites are not the QZ satellites where we’re just demonstrating a little technology,” Col Luke Sauter, the academy’s Department of Astronautics head, explained to CBN News. “No, these satellites are performing a mission for the Air Force and the Space Force and other DOD customers.”
A Critical Mission
Sauter says having a Space Force is critical to protect key U.S. interests in space and to ensure equal access for the nations of the world to utilize this frontier.
“Whether it’s your cell phone and the GPS connection; whether it’s the timing of your banking signals, whether it’s the weather that you’re expecting to see for the forecast for the next few days, space is everywhere,” he said.
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“If we’re seeing our commercial assets going to space, and the money and the benefit to the economy from a space economy, then there’s the advent that somebody else will want to also take advantage of that or maybe rob us of that advantage,” Sauter continued.
“And in that case, that’s where we need a Space Force to defend our equities in space,” he added.
Learning by Doing
Sauter says cadets learn space by doing space. From classes in space warfighting and operations to the brand-new summer Azimuth program.
“They’ll be doing all sorts of things from flying in the Vomit Comet and experiencing what weightlessness is like for real, to doing some underwater immersion, to actually getting a briefing and tours of all of this surrounding space infrastructure and architecture that we have in this area,” he shared.
“It’s a very rich area for the Space Force,” Sauter continued.
The Academy also teaches astrobiology – to build the science of growing food, plants, and other resources in space.
“We’re building an astrobiology program very quickly that will incrementally do new and innovative experiments,” Maj Travis Tubbs, assistant professor of biology and botany, told CBN News. “And each one has a unique angle, looking at different aspects of what biology means out in space and how that biology relates back to us here on Earth.”
Cadet 4th Class Jordan Moore works to make the perfect mushroom.
“If we want independent space travel, right, we want to go to Mars, we want to go to the moons of Jupiter, right, we need to have a source of food that is able to be grown and be sustained without having Earth resources,” he explained.
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Cadet 2nd Class Madelyn Letendre plants mustard seeds in Phytagel, with the ultimate goal of producing plants that can grow in space without sunlight.
“It’s super cool; I mean this research project is new, and so it’s really interesting to be at the start of something and see this process, the trial and error, and seeing the end goal being something super cool up in space,” she shared with CBN News.
“My major here is Space Operations, so everything I’ve done here has been space,” said Cadet 1st Class Erica Rivera. “It’s like the best place to come for space ’cause of the programs here, so it’s been amazing; I’m so excited to go into it.”
Embedding Space
The Air Force Academy is the top commissioning source for Space Force officers. About 400 have graduated from the school since 2020, and the expectation is that around 10 percent of every graduating class will go into the newest branch of the military.
“I really enjoy pouring my heart out into jobs,” emphasized Cadet 1st Class Alexander Kleitz. “I take a lot of fulfillment from doing a good job at the work that I’m assigned, and especially just with how much potential there is in this force.”
“Of our 40 cadet squadrons, we have five Air Officer Commandings who are Space Force officers as well, and a group commander, too,” Capt Kiara Davis, instructor of English, told CBN News. “So we really, I think, are doing a good job of embedding these Space Force leaders and mentors into just about every aspect of cadet life.”
Faith and Space
And Col Sauter welcomes prayers for guidance.
“We have leadership that is trying to understand how to step forward into this new domain and do it in a peaceful manner, in a manner that we can all engage in, and for the good of society and the good of the human population, expand our presence in space,” he said.
“Expand to the moon and to Mars and to other locations, and really be able to leave this planet and become a multi-planet species,” Sauter continued.
Foran says having faith while executing a secular mission is right for him. The cadet believes it’s what he was “charged to do.”
“My mom would always say that before I was born, I was set apart,” he shared. “She would say that all the time. ‘Hi, Mom.’ But with that, I think that this is a calling of some kind, and I don’t think I could see myself anywhere else, honestly.”
“It is hard here; it’s not easy, but I can’t see myself at any other institution,” he added.
And in a world where “the sky’s the limit,” Space Force cadets becoming officers push that boundary, echoing their military branch’s song, which says, “There’s no limit to our sky. Standing guard both night and day, we’re the space force from on high!”
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