Patrick Space Force Base
Patrick SFB is located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach in Brevard County, Florida. It is home to Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45), which controls and operates Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) and the Eastern Range. Additionally, SLD 45 deploys resources for flight safety, infrastructure, range instrumentation and launch support.
On May 11, 2021, the 45th Space Wing was redesignated as Space Launch Delta 45, the premier launch delta of the new United States Space Force. Nonetheless, the unit has a long and distinguished history dating back to the 1940s when what’s now known as the Eastern Range was the home of Army missile testing.
On Aug. 26, 1950, the Air Force's long-range proving ground base in Cocoa Beach, Florida, was named Patrick Air Force Base in honor of the late Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, who retired as the first chief of the Air Corps, Dec. 12, 1927. During his six-year tenure as chief of Air Service, Patrick approved the first flight around the world by Army pilots in 1924, and the Pan-American goodwill flight to every capital in Central and South America. He initiated the experimental flying organization at Wright Field, Ohio, and recommended legislation for the Air Service to become the Air Corps in 1926 under the Secretary of War, but apart from the War Department, which eventually led to the U.S. Air Force as an independent branch.
On Oct. 1, 1990, the Eastern Space and Missile Center and control of all operational space lift vehicles was transferred from Air Force Systems Command to Air Force Space Command, with the goal of establishing a new operational wing to oversee Eastern Test Range operations. The new operational wing was established as the 45th Space Wing on Nov. 12, 1991.
On Dec. 20, 2019 the United States Space Force was created as the sixth branch of the U.S. military under the Department of the Air Force, replacing Air Force Space Command. A little under one year later on Dec. 9, 2020, both installations of the 45th Space Wing were officially renamed as the first bases of the U.S. Space Force – Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The 45th Space Wing was redesignated as Space Launch Delta 45 on May 11, 2021. Under the new designation, Space Launch Delta 45’s first supported launch was a SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink L-26 mission on May 15, 2021. The Starlink mission carried 52 satellites into orbit.
Learn more: Space Launch Delta 45 > About Us > History
