Schriever Space Force Base
Schriever Space Force Base (1985-Active) - A United States Space Force Base first established in 1985 as Falcon Air Force Station near Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. Renamed Falcon Air Force Base in 1998. In 1998 the Air Force renamed Falcon AFB in honor of General Bernard A. Schriever, known as the Father of the Air Force Space and Missile Programs, the first instance of an Air Force installation named in honor of a living person. In 2021, USSF renamed Schriever Air Force Base as Schriever Space Force Base.
History(Text adapted from USSF Fact Sheet) In September 1979 officials approved plans for the development of an installation to provide a backup control node for support of existing and planned satellite constellations, and to house an operations support center for NASA’s space shuttle. Plans called for a merger of Air Force space operations at a Consolidated Space Operations Center (CSOC) and a Shuttle Operations Center (SOPC). On 17 May 1983, contractors broke ground on what would become Falcon Air Force Station. For two years, contractors worked to complete sufficient facilities to open the base, including headquarters, operations buildings, support facilities, and infrastructure. On 8 Jul 1985 the 2d Space Wing was activated in a ceremony at Falcon AFS, although the installation was not complete there was enough to allow the new wing to occupy the facilities. A ribbon cutting ceremony on 26 Sep 1985 symbolized the activation of Falcon Air Force Station. Construction costs totaled $91,450,000, less than two-thirds of the amount appropriated. Over the next decades, Falcon continued growing to meet mission requirements, necessitating increases in land area for operations, support, and administrative facilities, and a buffer zone for security. This growth caused the Air Force Space Command to rename the installation Falcon Air Force Base on 13 Jun 1988. In September 1990, the Joint National Test Facility (later the Joint National Integration Center) opened at Falcon, and a few years later, Air Force Space Command activated the Space Warfare Center (later the Space Innovation & Development Center). In 1998, construction began on new facilities to house missions and support operations transferred from Onizuka Air Force Station. By 2005 Schriever AFB hosted nearly 70 major and minor facilities and employed over 6,200 people. The base’s continuing growth and importance prompted wing and command officials to begin preliminary planning to bring several hundred housing units and associated community support activities to the base. Base housing opened in the fall of 2010 with 242 units for officer and enlisted personnel. In 2019, the United States Space Force (USSF) was activated. In July 2020, the 50th Space Wing was inactivated after nearly three decades at Schriever and overall management of the installation became a part of the newly activated Peterson-Schriever Garrison. The operations units previously assigned to the wing became independent Space Delta under Space Operations Command. On 28 July 2021, USSF renamed Schriever Air Force Base as a Space Force Base. Current StatusActive Space Force Base.
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