Peterson Space Force Base

Summary

Operating Country	🇺🇸 United States
Location	🇺🇸 United States
Status	◉ Active
Usage	Dual
Year built	1942
Operating Organization	US Space Force
Units	Space Base Delta 1 21st Medical Group 21st Mission Support Group Space Operations Command Space Systems Command US Army Space & Missile Defense Command / Army Forces Strategic Command 1st Space Brigade 1st Space Battalion 2nd Space Battalion 53rd Signal Battalion (Satellite Control) Regional SATCOM Support Center West North American Aerospace Defense Command United States Northern Command Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) 690th Cyberspace Operations Group 561st Network Operations Squadron Eighteenth Air Force 19th Airlift Wing 19th Operations Group 52nd Airlift Squadron Tenth Air Force 310th Space Wing 710th Operations Group 380th Space Control Squadron 428th Electromagnetic Warfare Flight Twenty-Second Air Force 302nd Airlift Wing 302nd Operations Group 34th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron 302nd Operations Support Squadron 731st Airlift Squadron 302nd Maintenance Group 302nd Maintenance Squadron 302nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron 302nd Mission Support Group 39th Aerial Port Squadron 302nd Civil Engineer Squadron 302nd Communications Flight 302nd Force Support Squadron 302nd Logistics Readiness Squadron 302nd Security Forces Squadron 302nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron Colorado Air National Guard 140th Wing 140th Operations Group 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron 200th Airlift Squadron

Location & Details

Coordinates	38.8236°N, -104.6950°E
Elevation	1,885 m (6,184 ft)
IATA code	COS
ICAO code	KCOS
Runways	17L/35R [Concrete] 17R/35L [Asphalt] 13/31 [Asphalt]
Website	www.peterson.spaceforce.mil/

Description

Peterson Space Force Base is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, sharing an airfield with the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. Established in 1942 as the Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, the site was developed as an air support facility for Camp Carson. The installation was renamed Peterson Field in December 1942 and hosted the Photographic Reconnaissance Operational Training Unit. During World War II, the base hosted heavy bombardment units operating B-24 and B-29 aircraft and conducted fighter pilot training with P-40N aircraft.

The base was inactivated in 1945 and returned to municipal control in 1946 before reactivating in 1951 as an installation of Ent Air Force Base. It supported air defense operations for the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and Ent Air Force Base throughout the Cold War. In 1975, the facility was designated Peterson Air Force Base. It served as the headquarters for Air Force Space Command from 1987 until the transition of the command to the U.S. Space Force in 2019. The installation was renamed Peterson Space Force Base on July 26, 2021.

The base is operated by the United States Space Force and is the garrison for Space Base Delta 1. It serves as the headquarters for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), and Space Operations Command (SpOC). Units stationed at the base include Space Deltas 2, 3, and 7, alongside elements of Space Systems Command. The base also hosts the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the 310th Space Wing. Flying units include the 302nd Airlift Wing and the 52nd Airlift Squadron, which operate C-130H Hercules aircraft, and the 200th Airlift Squadron, which operates C-21A Learjet aircraft.

Infrastructure includes the Hartinger Building, which houses the headquarters for SpOC and United States Space Command, and the Eberhart-Findley Building, which serves as the headquarters for NORAD and USNORTHCOM. The base maintains the Peterson Air and Space Museum within the original 1941 airfield terminal and the 76th Space Control Facility. Several World War II-era structures remain in use, including maintenance hangars, supply warehouses, and the Broadmoor hangar.

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