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GRAND FORKS – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and co-chair of the Senate Space Force Caucus, welcomed Space Development Agency (SDA) Director Dr. Derek Tournear to Grand Forks and attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Grand Forks Air Force Base (GFAFB) where SDA’s first Ground Operations and Integration Center will be located.  

“It seems like just yesterday I brought SDA Director Tournear to Grand Forks to show off our Airmen and University. Now here we are, less than two years later, cutting the ribbon on SDA’s first operations center,” said Senator Cramer. “As the home of SDA’s first operations center, Grand Forks Air Force Base plays a critical role in bolstering our national security through its important satellite mission. This is also a tremendous opportunity for the entire community in terms of opening up new jobs for the area and working with the city’s academic and technology community. North Dakota’s space assets and capabilities are second to none and our excellence will be a boon to improve our nation’s space-based defense.”

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Senator Cramer also participated in a community engagement event with the Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Brandon Bochenski, and community leaders which highlighted future employment opportunities for the area. They were also joined by Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), University of North Dakota President Andrew Armacost, SDA Director Tournear, and representatives from General Dynamics and SDA.

The Space Development Agency highlighted the selection of GFAFB for the new missions and emphasized the base’s increasing contribution to national security. GFAFB and the City of Grand Forks were selected as the home of SDA’s first Ground Operations and Integration Center which will operate and control multiple-layer satellite operations for Tranche 1 of the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). The NDSA provides high-speed tactical data transport and supports DoD’s “pivot” to a multi-orbit, resilient missile warning, missile tracking, and missile defense architecture. 


“Our ground segment provides the glue needed to manage the integration of our network for a complete operational enterprise,” said Tournear. “The operations center will integrate space and ground segments from multiple vendors in multiple configurations and allows mission operations and mesh networking control. Thus, the Operations and Integration contract is one of the most critical elements of Tranche 1, and represents the highest potential for impact on the overall successful performance of the NDSA.”

Background:

In October 2020, Senator Cramer first brought Dr. Tournear, the first-ever SDA Director, to Grand Forks to view its space assets and capabilities, including those at GFAFB. 

In September 2021, GFAFB was approved to operate SDA’s future satellite mission using the base as a center to monitor and maneuver Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. Senator Cramer advocated for GFAFB to receive this mission and has been working to further connect federal space assets like SDA to North Dakota. 

In May 2022, Senator Cramer announced SDA awarded a $324,516,613 contract to General Dynamics Mission Systems to establish the ground Operations and Integration segment of the National Defense Space Architecture. The state-of-the-art SDA operations centers will be at Grand Forks Air Force Base, ND, and Redstone Arsenal, AL, which will provide mission assurance, mutual backup capability, and distribution of mission.

Recognized as the Department of Defense’s constructive disruptor for space acquisition, SDA will accelerate delivery of needed space-based capabilities to the joint warfighter to support terrestrial missions through development, fielding, and operation of the NDSA.