Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Patrick Space Force Base (KCOF) lies on Florida's Space Coast between Cocoa Beach and Satellite Beach, a United States Space Force installation built around a long ILS-equipped runway and home to Space Launch Delta 45. Originally opened in 1940 as Naval Air Station Banana River, it has a long and varied military aviation history, from anti-submarine patrol duty in the Second World War to today's space launch support and search-and-rescue operations. It remains an active military airfield rather than a civil aerodrome, of interest to sim pilots chiefly for its scale and Space Coast setting.
Patrick Space Force Base sits on Florida's Space Coast, between the towns of Cocoa Beach and Satellite Beach in Brevard County. Operated by the United States Space Force, it is the host installation for Space Launch Delta 45, which also runs nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Eastern Range. The base is also home to the 920th Rescue Wing, the Air Force Technical Applications Center and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. For a simulator pilot the field is notable for its long, ILS-served main runway, its dense and varied radio environment, and its place in the history of American naval and space-related aviation.
The base lies on the Atlantic coast of Brevard County, Florida, between Satellite Beach to the south and Cocoa Beach to the north, close to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station a short distance up the coast. Approach and departure control in the area is provided by Orlando Approach/Departure. As a Space Force installation, the field sits within controlled airspace tied to military and space launch operations rather than ordinary civil traffic patterns.
Patrick has two physical runways. The main runway, 03/21, is 8,979 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS. The secondary runway, 11/29, is 3,670 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, but without an ILS. Field elevation is 3 feet above mean sea level.
Radio services recorded for the field include an Orlando Approach/Departure frequency (A/D) on 132.65 MHz, ATIS on 119.175 MHz, CLD on 118.4 MHz, Clearance Delivery/Ground on 124.35 MHz, Tower on 133.75 MHz, and PTD on 139.3 MHz. Additional operations frequencies are listed for Rescue Ops on 138.475 MHz, King Ops on 150.35 MHz, Beach Ops on 311 MHz, and PMSV Metro on 344.6 MHz. The main runway, 03/21, is equipped with an ILS.
The base lies along the Atlantic coastline between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station further up the coast providing a distinctive landmark for pilots orienting themselves along the Space Coast.
The base began life on 1 October 1940 as Naval Air Station Banana River, built by the Navy on scrub land south of Cocoa Beach under the Naval Expansion Act of 1938. During the Second World War it served as a base for anti-submarine patrols along the Florida coast, initially using PBY Catalina and PBM Mariner seaplanes, with OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes later taking up patrol duty. Landing strips were added in 1943 to allow shore-based aircraft to operate alongside the seaplanes. The station hosted a range of wartime activities, including patrol bomber bombardier training, seaplane pilot training, communications research, a blimp squadron detachment, an Aviation Navigation Training School, and the classified Project Baker instrument-landing trials. At its wartime peak it held 278 aircraft, 587 civilian employees and more than 2,800 officers and enlisted personnel. On 5 December 1945, aircraft from NAS Banana River took part in the search for the missing Flight 19 training flight; a PBM Mariner despatched from the station was itself lost without trace after a routine radio call. The Navy deactivated the station in 1947, and it was transferred to the United States Air Force in late 1948, briefly known as the Joint Long Range Proving Ground before being renamed Patrick Air Force Base in August 1950, in honour of Major General Mason Patrick. The base was transferred to the newly formed United States Space Force in December 2020 and took its current name, Patrick Space Force Base.
Patrick Space Force Base continues as an active United States Space Force installation, serving as the host base for Space Launch Delta 45, which operates Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Eastern Range. Tenant units include the 920th Rescue Wing, flying the HC-130 Hercules, the Air Force Technical Applications Center, and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. It is not a civil airport and does not offer scheduled airline service; as a military installation, prior permission is required for any visiting flight.
