U.S. targeting Iran’s space capabilities early into Operation Epic Fury

The U.S. military targeted infrastructure and assets that enable Iran to move data and conduct warfare operations in space, Adm. Brad Cooper said Thursday.

Speaking alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a press briefing at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, Cooper said Iran’s combat power is diminishing as Operation Epic Fury enters its sixth day.

“In just the last 72 hours, America’s bomber force has struck nearly 200 targets deep inside of Iran, including around Tehran. And in just the last hour, U.S. B-2 bombers dropped dozens of 2,000 pound penetrator bombs targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers,” Cooper, the commander of Centcom overseeing the military operation, said. “Notably, we’ve also struck Iran’s equivalent of Space Command, which degrades their ability to threaten Americans.”

Further details about that strike against the space-related facility were not supplied during the briefing.

The U.S. military’s Space Command is responsible for satellite-based navigation and communication capabilities and defending American and allied interests in outer space. As a “first mover” to support Epic Fury, Spacecom has been providing real-time intelligence to help track and target Iranian threats since the start of the operation.

“Our strikes against the Iranian Navy have intensified. You may have heard the president say just a little while ago that we have sunk or destroyed 24 ships. That was true at the moment. We’re now up over 30 ships,” Cooper said. “And in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier. A ship roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier — and as we speak, it’s on fire.” According to the commander, the overarching mission for Epic Fury is to “eliminate Iran’s ability to threaten Americans.”

“If I just look back over the last 24 hours of the operation, compared to where we were at its start, ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% since day one. Drone attacks have decreased by 83% since day one,” Cooper noted. “Having said this, we remain vigilant.”

Following a recent order from President Donald Trump, Cooper said this joint operation with Israel also aims to level Iran’s ballistic missile industrial base. 

“So we’re not just hitting what they have. We’re destroying their ability to rebuild. And so as we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will [systematically] dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future — and that’s absolutely in progress,” Cooper said. “This is going to take some time, but our forces are well supplied.”

Cooper and Hegseth declined to answer reporters’ questions about the types of targets Centcom is going after with its Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones that are deploying for the first time in this conflict.