The Space Coast's two Air Force bases will soon change names to reflect their connections to the military's newly minted Space Force branch.

Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will become Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station within 30 days, 45th Space Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Douglas Schiess said during his "State of the Installation" briefing early Friday.

"The names of the two bases will change," Schiess said, adding that Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett and Space Force commander Gen. John Raymond will attend a local name change ceremony. "When that happens, we believe we'll probably be one of the first, if not the first, bases to do that."

Other than switching from "Air" to "Space," Schiess said the designations will retain their historic references.

"We're not going to change the Patrick part," he said of the beachside installation, which is named after Gen. Mason Patrick, first chief of the Air Force's predecessor. "And we would never think about changing the name of Cape Canaveral."

Schiess said he also anticipates a name change for the 45th Space Wing itself, though no final decisions have been made. Uniform updates and designs are still being decided, too.

'Drive to 48' no more

For several years, the wing's slogan was "Drive to 48," an overarching goal to help launch providers achieve a cadence of 48 launches per year. As the overseer of the Eastern Range – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center – the wing has authority over the spaceport and its status.

But last year, Schiess said, that "Drive to 48" was achieved – and then some.

"What we did in 2019 is we launched four times within four weeks," he said of August, which saw two SpaceX and two United Launch Alliance missions. "As a matter of fact, we launched two times within 34 hours and that hadn't been done in 30 years."

And then in December, the range did it again when it supported two launches in one week: a SpaceX communications satellite mission on the 16th and the launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on the 20th.

Moving forward, Schiess said, the wing has a new slogan: "Set the Pace for Space."

"We need to set the pace for space. We need to be the people who say, 'We're ready to go when you're ready to go, and we're going to set the pace so you can get your satellite on orbit,'" he said.

New gate and entry into Patrick

Space Force-related changes and launches aside, the commander also spoke on infrastructure updates to Patrick. The base supports thousands of active duty personnel and their families, as well as retirees.

On the eastern side, a new main gate will begin construction this year, alleviating congestion and improving safety on State Road A1A. The winding facility will include new roads, a new visitor center and search area, and security updates.

"Our gates were not built for the post-911 era," Schiess said. "This is going to reduce accidents on A1A and also people queueing up on A1A."

Patrick officials are also hoping to secure funding in the coming years to renovate the south gate, too.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly. Support his space journalism by subscribing at floridatoday.com/specialoffer/.