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Ohio lawmakers push for U.S. Space Force training center to be based in Sandusky

By J.D. Davidson
The NASA John Glenn’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.
The NASA John Glenn’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Photo of NASA

(The Center Square) – A bipartisan group of Ohio congressmen wants NASA’s new Space Force training center in Ohio.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican J.D. Vance joined eight Ohio representatives in a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense saying the U.S. Space Force Space Training and Readiness Command’s Space Delta 12 mission should be at NASA Glenn’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

Here is Ohio’s argument to host the training center

The lawmakers wrote that the numerous space and national security industries and world-class research universities in the state – along with existing Air Force and NASA bases and facilities – make Ohio suited to be home to the mission.

“Ohio is a space state,” the letter reads. “Our state is integral to the history of flight, and because of our manufacturing prowess, federal assets, world-class research institutions, and skilled workforce, the future of aviation and space innovation will take place in Ohio. The proximity of military and federal space-related missions in Ohio represents a unique opportunity to accelerate and grow the capabilities of the United States. The confluence of missions and technologies in Ohio is unmatched and must be considered as the Air Force and Space Force reorganize to meet the requirements of an evolving Great Power Competition.”

The mission is responsible for testing and evaluating U.S. Space Force capabilities.

Ohio previously lost bid for U.S. Space Command headquarters

The letter comes seven months after President Joe Biden announced the U.S. Space Command headquarters will stay in Colorado, despite lobbying from Ohio and other states to move it.

At that time, business groups and politicians said Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton should be the permanent home for command headquarters. They also said other space force units should be housed in Sandusky.

Gov. Mike DeWine began Ohio’s bid for the headquarters in September 2020 when he sent a letter to President Trump, as previously reported by The Center Square.

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