Meet the Guardians: U.S. Space Force officially names its members

The United States Space Force made a rather significant announcement today, stating that its members will officially be called Guardians. The naming consensus was reached after a year-long process involving hundreds of submissions.

The official Space Force Twitter account stated this on the naming of its members:

“The opportunity to name a force is a momentous responsibility. Guardians is a name with a long history in space operations, tracing back to the original command motto of Air Force Space Command in 1983, “Guardians of the High Frontier.””

Since the Space Force was created back in December 2019, it has gained around 2,400 active-duty personnel, mostly coming from the Air Force. In fact, just this morning, an astronaut aboard the ISS was transferred to the Space Force. By the end of 2021, that number is projected to triple, bringing the total number of Guardians to over 6,000.

During its first year, the Space Force has overseen many satellite launches, been involved with the secretive X-37B spaceplane, and now manages a constellation of GPS satellites, among other things. The new branch of the military has even had a comedy Netflix show created after it.

It’s nice to see that the Space Force has finally decided on a name for its members; however, it has some other big decisions still in the pipeline. These include uniforms, insignia patches, and a rank structure.