Operation Absolute Resolve and Midnight Hammer push Space Force to seek more resources
Senior Space Force officials say the service’s support for high-profile raids is driving a push for more funding and capabilities. The operations, including operation absolute resolve in January 2026 after the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, relied on space-based communications, position, timing and navigation from guardians at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado.
Operation Absolute Resolve drove calls for more space resources
Operation Absolute Resolve, carried out in January 2026, saw Pentagon leadership tout a global strike package that deployed over 100 aircraft and weapon systems. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine highlighted U. S. Space Command’s non-kinetic role in creating “a pathway overhead” for troops during the Caracas operation, while Guardians at Schriever supplied SATCOM and PNT data and controlled elements of the electromagnetic spectrum to provide geolocation and prevent interference.
Guardians ran a global sensor network from Colorado, Europe and Asia
Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, commander of the Space Force’s Combat Forces Command, said people in Colorado, in Europe and in Asia sat in crew positions 24/7 and helped operate a global sensor network that delivered the high ground. He described that work as control over “the invisible front line” of outer space, and said guardians provided missile warning and helped prevent communications links from being jammed during both operations.
Gagnon also cited Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, when U. S. forces attacked nuclear facilities in Iran. During that campaign, guardians detected Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes only seconds after they were launched. “Even though that was on the other side of the planet, there were hundreds of guardians working that same 24/7 shift out of Colorado, connected with guardians who also operate in other parts of the world, ” he said.
What leaders say comes next
Combat Forces Command presents space-based effects to combatant commands, primarily U. S. Space Command, and Gagnon argued that Absolute Resolve and Midnight Hammer underscore the need for advanced space systems and skilled operators integrated into joint operations. He said guardians enable deployed forces by providing SATCOM, GPS navigation, missile warning and other capabilities troops rely on to operate and fight.
“The heart of the matter is that America does not project military power without space being involved, ” Gagnon said, framing the recent operations as evidence for a broader push to secure additional resources to prepare the service for future conflicts. Space Force leaders have made similar arguments since the service’s creation in 2019, and officials are pressing Pentagon leadership for the investments they say will sustain those overwatch capabilities.
Command officials say the next steps will focus on translating that operational experience into funding and force structure decisions to keep space-based effects available to combatant commands worldwide.
