The 45th Space Wing supported a United Launch Alliance launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying NROL-52 mission from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on Oct. 15, 2017. DoD photo courtesy of ULA.
The Air Force on May 14 officially announced the six candidate bases to potentially host the headquarters of the new US Space Command.
The bases are: Buckley AFB, Colo.; Cheyenne Mountain AFS, Colo.; Peterson AFB, Colo.; Redstone Arsenal, Ala.; Schriever AFB, Colo.; and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
The new combatant command was approved by Congress last year and established as the 11th COCOM in December.
In March, President Donald Trump nominated USAF Gen. Jay Raymond to serve as SPACECOM commander and continue to be the commander of Air Force Space Command.
The Pentagon, in its fiscal 2020 budget request, calls for $83.8 million for the new command. It is expected to include about 620 military and civilian staffers.
The Defense Department will now conduct site surveys and analysis of each location, with the preferred location expected to be announced this summer, according to an Air Force release.