16th Air Force airmen work in an operations center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in this file photo. The Space Forces cyber warfare headquarters could be headed to JBSA-Lackland.
Sharon Singleton/16th Air Force
The U.S. Space Force could bring its cyber warfare headquarters to JBSA-Lackland.
Scott Marion/Edwardsville Intelligencer file photo
With cyber threats growing, a new Space Force unit focused on cyber warfare could land in San Antonio according to two Texas representatives.
Reps. Henry Cuellar and Joaquin Castro said the Pentagon has named Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland as a candidate for the new organization, Space Forces Cyber.
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The unit would expand the base’s cyber footprint, which already includes the Air Force’s cyber warfare headquarters. It also could ease the sting of San Antonio not being selected for U.S. Space Command’s headquarters in 2021.
READ MORE: Could new Space Force cyber warfare unit land in San Antonio? Some already working to get it here.
Citing San Antonio’s cyber workforce, infrastructure and related missions, Cuellar said in a statement that the region could support the new unit, which “would create jobs, drive investment, and strengthen our nation’s ability to respond to evolving cyber threats.”
Castro added that he “will push the Department of the Air Force to make San Antonio (Space Forces Cyber’s) new home.”
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The Air Force confirmed that it selected JBSA-Lackland, along with the Army’s Fort George G. Meade in Maryland, as a potential location for Space Forces Cyber. A decision on the location is expected later this year for the the unit, which will start off with 50 people, according to the Air Force.
Fort Meade is home to U.S. Cyber Command, which defends the nation against cyberattacks. Like Air Forces Cyber, which is already at Lackland, the new Space Forces Cyber would support the larger Cyber Command. According to the Air Force, the unit would consolidate the Space Force’s cyber work under one command and allow it to more efficiently present forces, capabilities and response options to higher-level decision-makers.
Castro and Cuellar said their next step is to draft a letter of support for Space Forces Cyber to come to JBSA.
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The military’s cyber mission has ballooned over recent years, according to the general in charge of Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. In congressional testimony this week, Army Gen. Joshua Rudd said that in 2025, the organization “executed more than 8,000 missions, an increase of over 25% compared to 2024.”
He expected that number to be higher this year with the Venezuela operation in January and the ongoing war with Iran. Some of the work has landed with Air Forces Cyber, also known as the 16th Air Force, but the unit hasn’t commented due to the classified nature of its mission.
Rudd’s predecessor, Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, previously led Air Forces Cyber and was sacked by Trump in April 2025 on the recommendation of far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.
Established in 2019 as the nation’s newest and smallest military branch, the Space Force has been launching units tied to the nation’s warfighting commands like those the other services have established.
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Talk of creating a Space Force cyber unit began in 2024.
RELATED: Air Force scuttles plans to raise the status of its San Antonio cyber hub
While there’s a small Space Force detachment at Lackland focused on training, the cyber unit would be the service’s first major presence in San Antonio.
In 2021, the city fell short in its bid to lure U.S. Space Command despite being named one of six finalists. That unit is moving from its current headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
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Pentagon shakeups under the Trump administration already have gutted two Army headquarters in San Antonio and led the Air Force to scrap plans to elevate the status of Air Forces Cyber to a higher-level command.
The Air Force also is holding off on deciding about a Port San Antonio proposal to build a $1 billion-plus facility for Air Forces Cyber. The unit currently works out of a 71-year-old building with troubled heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, shifting floors and cracked walls.
A Port San Antonio official said Thursday there has been no developments in those discussions.
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