The Aerospace Defence Forces (Russian: Войска воздушно-космической обороны, tr. Voyska Vozdushno-Kosmicheskoy Oborony or VKO (ВКО) is the branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation responsible for air and missile defence, and the operation of Russian military satellites and the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Formed on 1 December 2011, it replaced the Space Forces.[4] The VKO was first commanded by former Space Forces commander Col Gen Oleg Ostapenko, who was promoted to Deputy Minister of Defence in November 2012.[5][6] On 24 December 2012 Aleksandr Golovko was appointed the new commander. Although it is officially translated as aerospace in English it covers both attacks from the air and from (outer)space, and some Russian writers translate it as "air and space" instead