45th Space Wing unveils new launch support center

The former Delta II launch control center sat dormant for two years, no longer needed after that rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for the last time in 2011.

But in recent months, Air Force personnel have gathered there to monitor systems on the newest rocket on the block, SpaceX's Falcon 9, looking at the same displays as SpaceX's launch team down the road.

"We have the ability to see what they see," said 1st Lt. Sean Mochocki of the 45th Launch Support Squadron. "If they're talking about a valve that's having a problem, then we can go look at the data they're looking at, we can look at the pressures, the voltages."

The 45th Space Wing on Wednesday celebrated the opening of its new Multi Vehicle Launch Support Center, which overhauled the former Delta II facility with a six-month, roughly $500,000 renovation completed in December.

The center on the second floor of the Wing's Headquarters building on the Cape features 30 computers, 60 monitors, six projection screens and countdown clocks to provide video and data during countdowns.

It looks fairly typical of facilities that support launch countdowns, but the Air Force sees it as something more significant — a symbol of the Cape's modernization.

"We commemorate the history of the Cape in this facility, we celebrate our current partnerships and capabilities, and we contemplate the possibilities going forward, not only dreaming of the possibilities of the spaceport of the future, but actually taking concrete steps to make it happen together," said Col. Eric Krystkowiak, commander of the 45th Launch Group, during a brief ceremony.

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For now, the "multi vehicle" designation is aspirational.

The center was designed specifically to support SpaceX, which this year is expected to earn Air Force certification to compete for launches of national security missions now flown exclusively by United Launch Alliance's Atlas V and Delta IV rockets.

The Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles directed the 45th Space Wing to establish the facility to support launches by SpaceX and any other "new entrants" that might arrive and seek the same type of certification.

The facility is a hands-off "support center," not a control center, because commands can't be sent to the rocket or spacecraft.

However, government and contractor personnel who were once dispersed can now gather in one place to collect and review data and to communicate more easily with each other, with SpaceX and with an Eastern Range team across the street in the Morrell Operations Center.

That support center is expected to assist certification efforts and help launch teams with analysis of technical problems that arise during countdowns.

Krystkowiak said the support center could be converted into a full launch control center if a new commercial customer wanted to use it for that purpose.

"The facility is primed and ready to support future customers," he said. "Its utilizations have the potential to expand with the future outlook of the Cape Canaveral Spaceport."

The support center came online as the 45th Space Wing embarked on what could be its busiest two-year period in decades, with as many as 25 launches possible this year and more than 30 on the books next year.

"It's really driving new ways of handling missions, trying to accelerate timelines, and also trying to support a range of different customers," said Krystkowiak.

After a ceremonial "three-two-one" countdown, the projection screens showed SpaceX and ULA rockets blasting off from the Cape. The video culminated with a satellite being deployed in space to conclude a successful launch.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean