The US Air Force has said six current and future Space Force bases, in three states, are competing to be the home of its new Space Training and Readiness Command and subordinate units, or space deltas.

Buckley, Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases in Colorado; Los Angeles Air Force Base and Vandenberg SFB in California; and Patrick SFB in Florida are candidates to host STARCOM headquarters. Los Angeles AFB, a major space acquisition installation, will be redesignated as a Space Force base in the future.

A service document updating STARCOM’s mission, noted the organization, one of three US Space Force field commands, is responsible for the deliberate development, education and training of space professionals; development of space warfighting doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures; and the operational test and evaluation of USSF systems.

STARCOM was established in August 2021 and is temporarily located at Peterson SFB, Colorado Springs, until a final basing decision is made.

Site surveys will occur through early next month in order to weigh the pros and cons of each location. No timeline was made available as to how long the review is expected to take.

What is interesting in this update of sites competing to host STARCOM activities, is the absence of any mention of a STARCOM detachment or other presence in Orlando, Florida – the ever-expanding nexus of US DoD M&S excellence and presence. While it makes perfect sense to collocate range and aggressor, and test and evaluation detachments with service operational counterparts, it is curious why US Space Force has not signed on as a Team Orlando member, or for that matter, established a sole presence in Orlando.

MS&T will continue to monitor and report on the quickening pace of infrastructure decisions for the STARCOM organization.