Kirtland AFB Space Force Facilities Aim to Improve War-Fighting Capabilities

Article by Nathan Strout                                                 July 8, 2021                                                            (defensenews.com)

• On July 7th, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico added another of many brand new space-related operations centers of the US Space Force with the opening of the Rendezvous and Proximity (REPR) Satellite Operations Center. The new $17 million facility workspace includes an operations floor, mission planning and collaboration areas, and conference rooms to carry out experimentation and demonstrations with prototype satellites and payloads as part of the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Support Complex at Kirtland.

• “The REPR Satellite Operations Center allows us to carry out on-orbit experiments and prototyping efforts, develop innovative concepts of operation, and demonstrate game-changing technology for the United States Space Force and our mission partners,” said head of the directorate, Col. Timothy Sejba, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

• The REPR Satellite Operations Center’s innovative architecture will allow operators to command multiple missions concurrently, dramatically increasing Space Force’s mission capabilities,’ according to Dan Crouch, senior materiel leader of the Innovation and Prototyping Directorate’s Prototype Operations Division.

• Kirtland Air Force Base serves as home to the Space and Missile Systems Center Innovation and Prototyping Directorate and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office. It is also home to the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate, the Deployable Structures Laboratory, the Skywave Technology Laboratory, and most recently the Space Warfighting Operations Research and Development, or SWORD, laboratory which tracks orbiting objects, advances satellite cybersecurity, and develops autonomous capabilities.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force opened a new satellite operations center July 7 at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico designed to advance the still nascent service’s space war-fighting capabilities.

The Rendezvous and Proximity (REPR) Satellite Operations Center was established by the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Innovation and Prototyping Directorate as a new workspace to drive on-orbit experimentation and demonstrations with prototype satellites and payloads.

“The REPR Satellite Operations Center allows us to carry out on-orbit experiments and prototyping efforts, develop innovative concepts of operation, and demonstrate game-changing technology for the United States Space Force and our mission partners,” said head of the directorate, Col. Timothy Sejba, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The $17 million facility will be part of the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Support Complex located at Kirtland. The 5,930-square-foot space includes an operations floor, mission planning and collaboration areas, and conference rooms.

“The REPR Satellite Operations Center was constructed by applying innovative

architecture and pulling in the latest technology available, allowing operators the ability to command multiple missions concurrently, dramatically increasing the Space Force’s mission capabilities,” said Dan Crouch, senior materiel leader of the Innovation and Prototyping Directorate’s Prototype Operations Division.

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