Satellite image of Iran’s Fordo nuclear plant. Credit: Maxar
By Grant Anderson,
Published by Space News, 30 July 2025
It can be said with certainty that a lot went into Operation Midnight Hammer. The June 22 precision strike on Iranian strategic weapons production facilities was an airtight operation conducted with great execution, coordination and timing by the United States Air Force and the Navy. B-2 bombers dropped 14 Massive Ordnance Penetrator “bunker-buster” bombs on concentrated targets deep in Iranian territory — while an Ohio-class submarine launched at least two dozen Tomahawk missiles to help finish the job. The Iranians didn’t respond with a single shot.
Of course, extraordinarily extensive planning and preparation went into this operation, with years’worth of expertise, technology development, modeling and exercises dedicated to the mission. Anend result as successful as this is simply not possible without serious and patient commitment —from the ever-changing political calculations, to the ongoing and painstaking collection and analysis of intelligence, to the constant development and adjustment of technology, to the gutsy heroism of the pilots on the bombing run. But with all of that said, there is one element that was absolutely critical to the planning, execution and success of the operation that hasn’t really been mentioned — and that is the role of space.
In fact, Operation Midnight Hammer exemplifies why space is fundamentally important to modernnational security and defense. So much of what goes into an operation like this relies on space, particularly satellites. A great portion (if not the overwhelming preponderance) of the overhead imagery (and other forms of intelligence) collected and used to inform strategic assessment depends on satellites. Moreover, the information they provide may even mean the difference between peace and war — provided the space industrial base remains well-funded enough to maintain American leadership in orbit.
Satellites are key to modern navigation, communication and targeting as well. On one level, an operation as sophisticated as Midnight Hammer relies on real-time and continuous communications between all levels of command and execution — all of which is made possibleonly with space-based technologies. On another level, we would not have the ability to accurately guide the ordnance we have without revolutionary space-based assets like the Global Positioning System (GPS). Not only do our precise guidance systems rely on GPS but GPS is fundamental to modern navigation on land, sea and air as well.
With these points in mind, it is also important to recognize that what makes the existence of these capabilities possible is a robust and complex space industrial base and development ecosystem. What the B-2 stealth pilot uses in the cockpit is the result of decades’ worth of design and engineering, modeling, testing and manufacturing, often followed by continuous refinement and updating. Innumerable people on countless teams across the industrial spectrum work —sometimes for years or even decades — to bring these platforms from concept to reality.
Enormous credit is rightfully due to those who wear the uniform, endure long training to become experts in their craft and take great personal risk to accomplish the mission. But reinforcing those brave Americans at the tip of the spear is a dynamic industrial base that is thoughtful about what it builds and how it can improve the proficiency, safety and effectiveness of the nation’s warriors. The story of the space industrial base is the story of America’s industrial base historically — it is a source of great strength and strategic advantage that allows us to protect our interests, which in turn further allows that industrial base to modernize, innovate and grow.
The role of space in modern national security or military operations shouldn’t really be any big secret — at least in a general sense. But there is a continuing need to reiterate the importance of space within larger national policy discussions because it can get overlooked. We rely on space for so much in our everyday lives, for everything from streaming TV services to digital maps on our phones — and because of that commonplace ubiquity, the role of space risks fading into the background without any real technical understanding of how modern technology wouldn’t exist without it. Working to highlight how space supports our joint force and our national interests generally remains an important task.
Finally, the Midnight Hammer strike on Iran also reinforces why we need to keep a laser focus on maintaining our technological edge in space. America has long dominated the domain of space — but that dominance is being quickly challenged by adversarial powers around the globe. More launches by more players are delivering more platforms to orbit for military uses and the technological gap among space-capable nations is closing quickly.
Keeping this focus will involve a number of things. One — it starts with ensuring necessary levels of resourcing and budgets at the national level for both civilian and defense space programs, research and needs. The U.S. government is now on a good path to supporting key space defense needs with the FY25-FY26 budget reconciliation bill — signed into law on July 4 — which contained several billion dollars for the U.S. Space Force. Maintaining this momentum may be key in the coming years. Second, it would also include continued (I would even say, increased) encouragement of growth and opportunity in the new space economy and generating investment in that economy — as well as in key industries that are vital to the space industrial base. The recent announcement that the Pentagon has signed a deal with the only U.S.-based miner and processor of rare earth minerals is the kind of policy move needed to ensure supply chain integrity for space and defense needs. Finally, we also need to keep finding ways to incentivize and stimulate public interest in careers in the space industry. The possibilities are expansive — we just need to keep the wires connected between how we perceive space and what space really provides.
Operation Midnight Hammer will go down as a historic military operation, and as time passes, more information will emerge about its detailed specifics — recognizing how vital space was to that mission and others like it should be part of the story.
See: Original Article
