Tuhia he tomokanga mō tēnei whitiāhua - Ko te āhua o te wehenga o ngā ope ā-rangi hōia puta noa i ngā whakahau hōia e toru i hua ai te arotake anō i te whakahaere o te ope ā-rangi i roto i te Air Force. I te tau 1979, i wehewehea te Space and Missile Systems Organization, i hangaia te Wahanga Space, a i te tau 1980, i whakakorehia te Aerospace Defense Command ka tukuna ana ope mokowhiti ki te Strategic Air Command. Ko te hua o nga pehanga o roto me o waho, tae atu ki te kaha o te Kaunihera ki te whakaingoa i te Air Force ki te Aerospace Force me te tupono ka arahina e te Perehitini Reagan te hanganga o te mana mokowhiti hei peka motuhake o te ope taua, i arahina e te Air Force te hanganga o te Air Force Space Command i te 1982. I roto i te 1980s, Air Force Space Command riro nga misioni mokowhiti o Strategic Air Command me te misioni whakarewatanga i Air Force Systems Command. I whakaratohia e nga ope mokowhiti te tautoko mokowhiti i te Pakanga o Falklands, te whakaekenga a te United States ki Grenada
, te whakaeke a te United States i a Libya i te tau 1986, Operation Earnest Will, me te whakaekenga a te United States ki Panama. Ko te whakamahinga nui tuatahi o nga ope mokowhiti i tutuki i te Pakanga o te Moana-a-Kiwa, i reira i tino nui ai nga ope mokowhiti ki te hononga i arahina e te US, i etahi wa ka kiia ko te pakanga mokowhiti tuatahi.