Space Force Uses Magic: The Gathering-Style Cards To Announce The War Names For Its Satellites

It can be hard to wrap your head around exactly what the U.S. Space Force does. Sitting in front of a screen tracking satellites doesn't have the same visceral impact as, say, flying a fighter jet. So in an effort to increase the personal connection that Space Force Guardians feel for the machinery in orbit they monitor, America's newest military branch has unveiled a new naming system based on how aerial units have done it in the past. What really is new is the way it unveiled it: through a series of slick Magic: The Gathering-style cards, with keywords and everything. I don't know how you tap a satellite in space, but somebody sure is trying.

This is the result of an initiative begun in October 2024, when Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman publicly asked Guardians to help with the new naming system, as Air & Space Forces Magazine reports. The idea is to give boring satellite designations some cool names instead, much as the F-15 is called the Eagle or the F-22 is called the Raptor. Satellites do have letter designations like this, for mission profiles like "A" for attack or locations like "L" for low-Earth orbit. The thinking here is to bring more of an identity to the proceedings, the way that Army helicopters are referred to as Apaches, Black Hawks, or Chinooks.

Notice the theme there? Helicopters are named after Native American tribes. In the same way, the Space Force has announced seven themes: orbital warfare satellites will be named after the Norse pantheon, electromagnetic warfare satellites after serpents, cyber warfare after mythological creatures, navigation warfare after sharks, communications after constellations, missile warning after sentinels, and space domain awareness after ghosts. That's great, but... those cards.

You've really got to see the cards to believe them. Orbital warfare is represented as a sexy space angel with the keywords Courageous, Dominant, and Relentless. What, no Flying? Serra Angel would be disappointed. Meanwhile, electromagnetic warfare looks absolutely fabulous in his multicolored scales. He's Adaptable, Agile, and Cunning. To be clear, these are just graphic assets, not physical commodities you can hold in your hand, shove in a box for decades, and then sell for thousands of dollars.

The goal here, as Saltzman explained, is to start building a distinct culture for the branch that the Guardians themselves have a direct say in. Kind of inevitable that would lead to something that looks less like old-school military and more like what a bunch of just-graduated high school nerds are used to. Regardless, the cards are just for show; the real effect will be when Guardians start talking about, say, Valkyries and Anacondas and what they're up to in orbit. Honestly, that does sound better than just referring to a mishmash of letter and number designations. Until one of them gets banned in Standard format, obviously.