The Royal Air Force has redesignated Air Command as Air and Space Command, formally putting space alongside air power in the service’s top command structure. The headquarters remains led by the Chief of the Air Staff and continues to oversee UK Space Command as well as the RAF groups responsible for generating air power and training across the United Kingdom.
The change reflects the RAF’s wider Defence role in space and the growing operational link between satellites, surveillance and cross-domain military activity. Air Command, created in 2007, has long served as the RAF’s central headquarters, while UK Space Command was brought under it in 2021. The new name elevates space in the command’s identity without creating a separate headquarters or altering the core leadership arrangement.
The redesignation also aligns the RAF’s senior structure with the increasing military importance of space systems and the need to integrate air and space power more closely across Defence. The move leaves the command’s operational responsibilities intact while giving formal recognition to space as a core domain within the service.