First Space Force guardian to go to International Space Station

The Space Force will send its first guardian into space later this year as part of a NASA mission to the International Space Station, the service announced yesterday.

Col. Nick Hague will spend six months on the space station as a flight engineer conducting operations and research activities, the service said.

Hague will pilot the SpaceX Crew-9 mission on the Dragon spacecraft in August at the earliest. His crewmates include Zena Cardman, commander; Stephanie Wilson, mission specialist; and Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist and Roscosmos cosmonaut.

“Being a part of this mission is a unique honor, but it’s truly a collective effort,” Hague said. “Guardians worldwide ensure safe and secure operations of critical systems for launch and on station. From GPS satellites that underpin our station navigation systems, to space domain awareness sites around the globe that help NASA prevent orbital debris from colliding with the space station, to the launch range that my crew will use when we liftoff, Guardians provide critical support without which our NASA human spaceflight program wouldn’t be possible.”

Before joining the Space Force, Hague took part in three NASA missions to the space station. He trained as an astronaut candidate from 2013 to 2015 and was selected for his first mission in 2018.

His first launch in 2018 experienced a malfunction, leading him and his crewmate Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos to abort the mission shortly after launch.

In 2019, Hague successfully traveled to the space station and spent 203 days on-orbit.

Hague had an extensive Air Force career prior to his astronaut training, according to his NASA profile. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1998, worked on advanced spacecraft technologies as well as on flight tests.

After returning from the space station, he transitioned to the Space Force and served as the director of test and evaluation for two years.