The US Space Force awarded a contract for the sum 77,5 million dollars with Astrotech Space Operations to increase satellite training capabilities at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. These investments in ground infrastructure are aimed at removing the restrictions, that can prevent access to space. A three-year contract was concluded 25 April according to the results of the competition “Commercial Solutions Opening”. In the words of Colonel Dan Highlander, director of operational integration of the Space Systems Command Executive Office of the Assured Access to Space Program, this contract is a public-private partnership to jointly finance the necessary infrastructure, which will support the growing demand for military and commercial launches.
Astrotech, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, is the main provider of payload storage and satellite preparation services at the eastern and western spaceports before launch. The company has facilities near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (10 200 kv. city) and at the Vandenberg base (close 3 700 kv. city).
Official representatives of the Space Forces have determined, that satellite training facilities is significant “bottleneck” in recent years. Despite the increase in the number of missile launches, the limited availability of safe facilities for preparing satellites held back the overall pace of launches.
The situation became more complicated with the growing popularity of joint missions, such as SpaceX missions, where one rocket puts several satellites of different organizations into orbit. Each satellite requires individual handling procedures and security protocols, which creates an additional load on the existing infrastructure.