Peterson Space Force Base Through Time

Peterson Space Force Base, originally established in 1926, evolved from an Army airbase to a key space defense hub.

Established in 1926, the Colorado Springs Airport—through a lease between the City of Colorado Springs and the War Department—became the nucleus of the Colorado Springs Army Air Base, providing training for P-38E photo reconnaissance aircrews. In December 1942, the installation was renamed Peterson Army Air Base in honor of Lieutenant Edward J. Peterson, a native Coloradan, who was killed in August 1942, during take-off prior to a training mission to Lowry Field.

Over the decades, Peterson Field became the go-to airfield for visitors to local Colorado Springs military installations. After the closing of nearby Ent Air Force Base in 1976, Peterson absorbed the air defense mission as well as attaining status as a separate Air Force Base. The stand-up of Air Force Space Command in 1982 only increased the base’s visibility and importance within the space defense mission. Throughout the 1980s to the late 2010s, Peterson’s influence reached around the world and into the orbital realm. The December 2019 establishment of the United States Space Force (USSF) heralded the base’s renaming as Peterson Space Force Base.