Yes, as you are reading it. After 83 years, the Spanish Air Force is going to change your name to adapt to the new times, and will be renamed the Air and Space Army.
They are not very clear the government’s tangible intentions for changewhile Spain does not currently have a consolidated Space Agency, beyond its collaboration with ESA.
Although the Government of Spain announced last year the creation of a space agencybeing scheduled to start up at some point in 2023 and with the focus on the development of the Spanish space program, the change in the name of the Air Force would not be related.
And what does the Government of Spain intend with the change of nomenclature? Do more visible the effort to adapt the country’s defense to a new reality with new challengeswhatever that means, organically and organizationally.
The change of the name of the Air Force to adapt to the new times
It is clear then that the idea is not to provide the Air (and Space) Army with space soldiers for future wars beyond the belt of Orion, but to provide the armed institution with greater capacity and tools for the future.
And it is that the work of the Air Force for a long time that have leaped beyond typical operational surveillance and defense capabilities airspace or its collaboration with allied NATO forces.
In 2019, the Space Surveillance Operations Center (COVE) was launched at the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base, with a very important mission for the future of air defense: space surveillance. And at a time when satellites and space objects have become the main asset for defense and observation, it is logical that it be the Air (and Space) Army who is also in charge of these tasks.
Be that as it may, 83 years after its creation, it changes its name to adapt to the new times: welcome, Air and Space Army.