Air Force considers moving Space Center

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Feb 12, 2005 | by TOM ROEDER THE GAZETTE

A study is under way to determine whether the Air Force's Space Control Center needs to stay inside Cheyenne Mountain.

The Space Control Center, which tracks satellites and space junk, has been inside the underground Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station since 1979, but it could wind up in more airy accommodations at Peterson Air Force Base.

Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf, vice commander of Air Force Space Command, said he ordered the study after walking through a pair of high- security buildings at Peterson and realizing they were underused.

"We're looking at our options. And the key word is options," Leaf said Friday in a telephone interview.

The Space Control Center isn't part of North American Aerospace Defense Command that inhabits most of the underground offices inside the mountain. NORAD, established under a treaty between the United States and Canada, is responsible for protecting North America from air attack and monitoring the globe for ballistic missile launches. NORAD doesn't track satellites.

The command was moved inside the mountain at the height of the Cold War to safeguard it in case of nuclear attack.

The space center moved in later, when the U.S. military feared a Soviet attack against U.S. satellites.

The Space Control Center falls under Air Force Space Command, based at Peterson. Leaf said that the study will examine whether the center will work better if it's moved closer to its bosses at Peterson.

"It's far more routine than it sounds," Leaf said.

If the center moves, it appears likely that the space it vacates would be taken up by NORAD expansion.

The 9/11 attacks led NORAD to add Federal Aviation Administration officials and terrorism experts to its staff at Cheyenne Mountain.

NORAD bosses have proposed adding maritime security to the command's list of duties. Negotiations between the U.S. and Canadian authorities this year will determine whether that happens.

Leaf said a final decision on whether the Space Control Center will move hasn't been reached.

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