Mission
- One Team–Providing World-Class Range Operations Support to U.S. Government, NASA, and Launch Service Providers
Vision
- The World's Leader in Range Operations.
Motto
- "If it flies, we control it!”
Heritage
The 1st Range Operations Squadron (1 ROPS) was activated on 1 December 2003. It is a United States Space Force unit headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, and assigned to the Space Launch Delta 45.
The squadron's lineage can be traced back to its inception on 12 November 1991, when the Eastern Space and Missile Center transformed into the 45th Space Wing. The 45th Space Wing was later redesignated as Space Launch Delta 45 on 11 May 2021, a change that also converted its status from a U.S. Air Force unit to a U.S. Space Force unit. The predecessor to 1 ROPS, the 45th Range Squadron, was a component of the 45th Operations Group until it was inactivated on 1 December 2003, at which point 1 ROPS took over its mission of executing real-time command and control of the Eastern Range.
Leadership & Organizational Structure
- Commander (CC): Lt Col Gregory L. Allen
- Deputy Commander (CD): Maj Erik M. Sangiorgi
- Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL): MSgt Andrew J. Solito
- Organizational Breakdown:
- Assistant Deputy Commander (ACD): Assists the Deputy Commander in planning, directing, and coordinating operational policies, procedures, and programs.
- Director of Support (DS): Provides comprehensive administrative and executive support to the Commander, ensuring seamless office operations and efficient execution of the Commander's priorities.
- Director of Range Projects (DRP): The primary point of contact for range management, fostering direct communication between Range Management (RM) and stakeholders.
- Program Management Flight (DOF): Composed of Program Support Managers, Program Analysts, Launch Integration Managers. This flight ensures seamless launch support through coordinating communication, managing resources, and integrating all support efforts across various agencies and locations.
- Operations Integration Flight (DOO): Streamlines operational efficiency by managing innovation and integration of new technologies for operational acceptance. Additionally, they are responsible for disseminating launch metric information and establishing operational guidance and procedures.
- Range Scheduling Flight (DOS): The scheduling authority for Eastern Range operations. Operates three elements within DOS, Real-Time, Forecast, and Airspace Management. Responsible for integrating maintenance activities into the overall range schedule with the goal of reducing or eliminating potential operational impacts.
- Operations Training Flight (DOT): Ensures a highly skilled workforce by designing, implementing, and maintaining all training programs necessary for crew members to effectively perform their Day of Launch duties.
- Operations Support Flight (DOU): Guarantees the unit's operational effectiveness by overseeing compliance, managing personnel qualifications, coordinating procedures, and scheduling launch operations.
- Electromagnetic Spectrum Flight (EMS): Safeguards electromagnetic spectrum operations by managing its allocation, resolving interference, and providing technical expertise for communications and electromagnetic safety.
- Mission Support Operations Flight (MSO): Assures mission readiness by expertly managing range instrumentation systems, from planning and evaluation to technical oversight and anomaly resolution.
Mission Snapshot (“At a Glance”)
- Location(s): Primary operations are conducted out of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), however there are other Range assets utilized for Day of Launch operations at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Melbourne FL, Jonathan Dickinson Missile Tracking Annex (JDMTA), Ascension Island, and other locations throughout the southern hemisphere.
- Assets in use: Command Destruct, Communications, Meteorological, Optical, Radar, and Telemetry.
- Supported Launch Service Providers: Navy, SpaceX, NASA, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Firefly, Stoke Relativity, Sierra, and more.
- Key outputs or accomplishments: Total launches
Year: Total Launches:
2020 31
2021 37
2022 57
2023 74
2024 96
2025 109
Highlights & Achievements
- Historical first “2 in 24”. 1 ROPS first accomplished two launches within a 24-hour window when SBIRS-GEO-6 and KPLO launched within 12.5 hours on 4 Aug 2022. Since then, 1 ROPS has completed 28 “2 in 24” turnarounds.
- Reactivation milestone for LC-36. On 16 Jan 2025, 1 ROPS supported the first orbital launch from the rebuilt LC-36 since 2005 with Blue Origin’s inaugural New Glenn (NG-1) mission.
- 8 launches in less than 8 days. Between 21 Apr 25 and 29 Apr 25, 1 ROPS accomplished 8 launches: CRS-32, Bandwagon-3, Starlink 6-74, Starlink 12-23, Starlink 12-10, KA-01, and a Range Support payload.
- Fastest 5 launches (2025). Between 25 Apr 25 and 29 Apr 25, 1 ROPS accomplished 5 launches in 96.7 hours: Starlink 12-10, KA-01, Starlink 12-23, Starlink 6-74, and a Range Support payload.
- Fastest 2 in 24 (2025). On 28 Apr 2025, KA-01 and Starlink 12-10 launched just 2 hours and 37 minutes apart — the fastest Eastern Range turnaround to date.
- 5 launches in 5 days. Between 23 Jun 25 and 28 Jun 25, 1 ROPS accomplished 5 launches: Starlink 10-23, KA-02, Axiom-4, Starlink 10-19, and Starlink 10-34.
- Dual Operations. On 23 Jun 25, the counts for Starlink 10-23 and KA-02 ran concurrently, with operations running seamlessly in both MCRs as 1 ROPS enabled both missions to successfully launch.
- Closest heavy-lift turnaround (non-Falcon, 2025). On 13 Nov 25, Blue Origin New Glenn (ESCAPADE) from LC-36 at 15:55 EST and ULA Atlas V 551 (ViaSat-3 F2) from SLC-41 at 22:04 EST launched 6 hours 9 minutes apart — the shortest interval between two non- Falcon heavy-class missions on the Eastern Range.
- Diverse provider triple-header (13–15 Nov 25). 1 ROPS supported three launches from three different providers in ~34 hours: Blue Origin New Glenn (13 Nov 15:55 EST), ULA Atlas V (13 Nov 22:04 EST), and SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 6-85 (15 Nov 01:44 EST) — followed shortly by a fourth Falcon 9 mission.
- Multi-provider, multi-pad surge (Nov 25). From 13–18 Nov 25, 1 ROPS enabled four orbital launches from four different pads in ~92.5 hours: New Glenn (LC-36), Atlas V (SLC-41), Falcon 9 Starlink 6-89 (LC-39A), and Falcon 9 Starlink 6-94 (SLC-40
Contact & Additional Resources
Partner Map:
Future Outlook:
1 ROPS is actively adapting to the rapidly evolving space launch landscape. The unit is focused on modernization and digitization to provide enhanced support to launch service providers. Anticipating significant growth in launch frequency, the range has reached a milestone of 100 launches on 20 Nov 2025. By 2030, we expect to support an impressive 175-200 launches annually, demonstrating a commitment to meeting the increasing demands of the space industry enabling the United States to continue it’s dominance in space.
Current as of 21 Nov 2025