^Sounds like great news!
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This one probably could go into a few different discussion threads, but since we don't appear to have a generic geospatial intelligence thread:
No U.S. Space Command HQ for the NGA West site, or Scott AFB, or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter, except possibly the Cornhusker state:
Here are the six locations that could host the new U.S. Space Command
"WASHINGTON — Six locations have survived the first round of cuts and are still in under consideration to become the new headquarters for U.S. Space Command, the Air Force announced Thursday.
The six locations include four Air Force installations — Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Offutt AFB in Nebraska, Patrick AFB in Florida, and Peterson AFB in Colorado — as well as Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama and Port San Antonio in Texas, which was home to the former Kelly Air Force Base and currently hosts Air National Guard and reserve operations.
..."
Here are the six locations that could host the new U.S. Space Command
"WASHINGTON — Six locations have survived the first round of cuts and are still in under consideration to become the new headquarters for U.S. Space Command, the Air Force announced Thursday.
The six locations include four Air Force installations — Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Offutt AFB in Nebraska, Patrick AFB in Florida, and Peterson AFB in Colorado — as well as Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama and Port San Antonio in Texas, which was home to the former Kelly Air Force Base and currently hosts Air National Guard and reserve operations.
..."
Peterson I think is still the most likely candidate given it's the current HQ for the Air Force Space Command so it would require the least amount of movement. Patrick AFB would be 2nd being directly adjacent to Canaveral, and then Redstone Arsenal 3rd with the massive amount of R&D companies, both private & DOD-direct companies, in Huntsville.urbanitas wrote: ↑Nov 20, 2020No U.S. Space Command HQ for the NGA West site, or Scott AFB, or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter, except possibly the Cornhusker state:
Here are the six locations that could host the new U.S. Space Command
"WASHINGTON — Six locations have survived the first round of cuts and are still in under consideration to become the new headquarters for U.S. Space Command, the Air Force announced Thursday.
The six locations include four Air Force installations — Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Offutt AFB in Nebraska, Patrick AFB in Florida, and Peterson AFB in Colorado — as well as Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama and Port San Antonio in Texas, which was home to the former Kelly Air Force Base and currently hosts Air National Guard and reserve operations.
..."
More details about the Geospatial Accelerator operated by NGA and MTC that will operate out of St. Louis:sc4mayor wrote: ↑Oct 22, 2020The NGA has signed a 10 year lease at T-Rex for what they are calling Moonshot Labs. They will move roughly 60-70 of their employees and/or contractors downtown to work with the private sector. In addition to that, the Missouri Technology Corp. is expected to announce it's launching an accelerator for GeoInt startups in partnership with the NGA.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... 7dee5.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... 0#cxrecs_s
...progress made on the first anniversary of groundbreaking held Nov. 26, 2019. To date
- 96,000 cubic yards of concrete have been poured (equivalent to nearly 1.5 million 20oz. cups of coffee)
- 140,000 work hours have been recorded (as of October 30)
- 305,000 gallons of water have been used for handwashing
- 89,000 linear feet (nearly 17 miles) of conduit have been buried under the main office building
- Over 775,000 cubic yards of soil moved as of May 30, 2020 (equivalent to filling Busch Stadium with soil 1.5 times)
- 5,700 tons of steel have been ordered for the next phase
With site work almost complete, NGA campus to take shape in 2021
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... 1#cxrecs_s
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https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... 1#cxrecs_s
By spring 2021, construction of the new $1.7 billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus will go vertical out of the ground, forming the bones of the new facility in north St. Louis.
Then, the construction team of McCarthy HITT JV will begin steel erection in St. Louis Place at Jefferson and Cass avenues. Much of 2020 was spent conducting mass grading and installing the foundation of the new western headquarters of NGA, officials said Tuesday during a media briefing of the project. Foundation work is still underway.
^It's hard to fathom that, with that progress, and after all the time they've spent preparing this site, that an office building full of actual office workers is still more than 4 years away...
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its slow thats for sure and if it was a Enterprise Car Rental HQ or any other private biz they'd be moving in people much quicker but the complexity of the construction and requirements because of the nature of the work in the building add on years to the scheduleurbanitas wrote: ↑Dec 05, 2020^It's hard to fathom that, with that progress, and after all the time they've spent preparing this site, that an office building full of actual office workers is still more than 4 years away...
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^I can't imagine anyone other than the feds would have permitted the careful archaeology that happened either. That also added a good year, I would guess. At least.
One or two of the years is just outfitting the building (tech, etc). I think the main construction is set to be done in 2023.urbanitas wrote: ↑Dec 05, 2020^It's hard to fathom that, with that progress, and after all the time they've spent preparing this site, that an office building full of actual office workers is still more than 4 years away...
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^The more historic parts of it end up as a park and museum, a la Jeff Barracks?
At least two years, just to install, test and train the servers and communications equipment, apparently.jshank83 wrote: ↑Dec 05, 2020One or two of the years is just outfitting the building (tech, etc). I think the main construction is set to be done in 2023.urbanitas wrote: ↑Dec 05, 2020^It's hard to fathom that, with that progress, and after all the time they've spent preparing this site, that an office building full of actual office workers is still more than 4 years away...
The shell of the main building should be mostly complete by the end of next year, which would leave a whole year for MEP work if they were to turn the keys over to the tech geeks January 2023. Of course they didn't really say that there won't be NGA staffers there until 2025, just that the building won't be "operational" until then. I'm sure there will be some overlap, plus whatever time it takes Skynet to achieve consciousness.
Next NGA West: Construction Update
Some site progress photos have been added here. They are labeled "December 2020", but I'm fairly certain that at least some of them are more recent than that, as they show Ground Level columns in place for the parking garages, and what appears to be steel framing being erected for the main building already, which, according to previous updates, was scheduled to begin this Spring.
For example, these photos from Feb. 15th don't seem to show as much structure above grade, as the ones above:
P-D: ‘Are we a community on the rise?’ Next St. Louis mayor will set direction for region’s economy
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Also, the Guv toured the site yesterday, so maybe there will be some more photos or videos in the press one of these days...
Some site progress photos have been added here. They are labeled "December 2020", but I'm fairly certain that at least some of them are more recent than that, as they show Ground Level columns in place for the parking garages, and what appears to be steel framing being erected for the main building already, which, according to previous updates, was scheduled to begin this Spring.
For example, these photos from Feb. 15th don't seem to show as much structure above grade, as the ones above:
P-D: ‘Are we a community on the rise?’ Next St. Louis mayor will set direction for region’s economy
Also, the Guv toured the site yesterday, so maybe there will be some more photos or videos in the press one of these days...
A couple of top secret construction photos from February. Presumably, this is the main building:
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NGA Twits
NGA Twits
Finally got my drone up to the NGA site. For some reason, there are huge issues with Remote Control activity to the drone right here. Despite the land being mostly flat, the signal is interfered with a lot, meaning that for me to get these shots took a lot of patience and slow moves to not lose the connection.
Of note, a large red crane has arrived.
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Of note, a large red crane has arrived.
Nope. The site is geofenced though, as I talked about on the drone thread. So I can take pictures around the perimeter but cannot enter the site. The drone just wont fly into it.jshank83 wrote: ↑Apr 19, 2021Did you have to get approval to fly that and take pics?
From the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service:
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/396114/n2 ... on-project
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/396114/n2 ... on-project
That weird white metal structure you see in the drone photos is now a facade mock up. If you go by, it gives you a good idea at what to expect when the building it built. It will look nice.
Stltoday - St. Louis aldermen again consider ‘protection’ district near NGA site
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... d7b08.html
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... d7b08.html