As the Space Force prepares to double in size over the next five years, Peterson Space Force Base will need additional space and people to support the growth. 

The intense period of expansion is expected even as Space Command headquarters relocates to Huntsville, Ala., because it is a small piece of all the space operations in town. 

Peterson Space Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station employ about 8,200 active-duty troops, civilians and contractors and have a combined payroll of $837 million, according to a Tuesday presentation by Col. Kenneth Klock, commander of the Space Base Delta 1.

The combined economic impact of the two bases is about $2.6 billion, per the report. The entire Space Force employs about 10,000 people in specialized roles, a number that could double.

Klock outlined the achievements, expectations and needs across the bases during the annual State of the Base address, which drew prominent community leaders. 

Peterson in particular needs additional office space and dorms, he said.

The Space Force’s direct missions, such as missile warning and tracking, and the purchase of new on-orbit technology, are expected to receive an infusion of cash as the service could see its budget double next year.

The guardians running those missions are supported by Klock’s staff in Space Base Delta 1. They run the support functions, such as communications, security, and infrastructure, at Peterson and Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station. The Delta also oversees Pituffik Space Base in Greenland and the Maui Space Surveillance Complex. 

“We are the base support that allows all the mission partners to do their missions and, honestly, their combat operations that happen from our installations,” he said. 

To house the new growth, the base will likely need to lease more space. It could also use new office space that would cost less to maintain than the current structures, Klock said.  The base will also need more staff to help support the Space Force as it grows, which is a topic of conversation, he said. The solution may require hiring more civilians.  

The base is currently short more than 1 million square feet of office space and 189 dorm rooms to house young troops, he said.  

Growing capacity to house and serve more people on base is a challenge, Klock said. 

“It’s not easy. It’s not cheap, and it’s not fast,” he said. 

Much of the workforce lives off base, and Klock lauded the community’s efforts to build more affordable apartments in town. While it’s still a challenge, progress has been made in recent years, he said. 

“We’ve seen so many more apartments come up and the prices are dropping, and this is, I think, a good news story,” he said.

The Space Force also expects to provide the community greater detail about the compatible and non-compatible construction around Schriever Space Force Base based on a scientific study, he said. 

The guidance will likely be needed as builders plan new large neighborhoods around the base. 

Last August, the El Paso County commissioners approved a sketch plan for Flying Horse East, a development of about 5,000 homes. Sketch plan approval is the first step for the development. 

A similar study to help guide development around Peterson is also planned, he said. 

Klock also highlighted the success of a Department of Defense child-care pilot program that provides 150 child-care slots at providers in town. Families pay the same rate they would for child care on base, and the department covers the difference, he said. The program has helped shrink the waitlist for care, he said. 

“It is a very successful model,” he said.