(SMDBL) The 117th Space Battalion has a training, readiness, and oversight (TRO) relationship with the 1st Space Brigade but is not actually part of it, as of 2018–19. Technical Center, based in Huntsville, Alabama; U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site (USAKA/RTS), in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and at Wake Island High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF), at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Space and Missile Defense Acquisition Center (SMDAC) other directorates History Design work for the Safeguard System anti-ballistic missile complex began in 1968. The initial ground breaking occurred in 1970. The test period began in September 1973 and concluded with the equipment readiness date. Four and half years after the initial contracts were signed, the completed facility was turned over to the government. On 27 September 1974, at the Missile Site Radar Complex near Nekoma, North Dakota, and at the Ballistic Missile Defense Center at NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, the Safeguard facilities were officially transferred to the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Defense Systems Command after a four and a half year construction project by ten companies. Previously the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensors Project Office (JLENS) based in Huntsville, Alabama was part of SMDC's Space and Missile Defence Acquisition Center. However, after continuing problems with the programme, the fiscal 2017 budget for the JLENS program was cut from the requested $45 million to $2.5 million. According to Defense News, the "nearly unanimous lack of funding for the program spells death for JLENS". The blimps are being kept in storage and the small budget being used to close out the program, according to Defense News. Other parts of the previous Space and Missile Defense Acquisition Center included: High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF), at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Army Space Program Office (ASPO) in Alexandria, Virginia Ballistic Missile Targets Joint Project Office (BMTJPO) based in Huntsville, Alabama The United States Army Futures Command, formed 24 August 2018, gives priority to modernization of air and missile defense. Cross-functional teams were instituted to oversee the modernization effort in the areas of hypersonic systems, maneuver SHORAD (M-SHORAD) and Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS). List of commanding generals Notes See also Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense Comparable organizations Naval Network Warfare Command (U.S. Navy) Air Force Space Command (U.S. Air Force) References External links Official website Future