On the front row of Spaceport Evolution

The space launch industry is taking off—pun intended-- with incredible growth and new potential. Our nation is fostering an unprecedented number of launches at greater frequency than ever before in our history. To support this increasing launch tempo, we are redefining what is possible as we build upon the framework of the past. What strategies and technologies need to be advanced now to keep up with tomorrow’s demand? How do we provide expedited support while not just maintaining current safety and security standards but steadily improving them? What challenges can we anticipate with a heavy launch manifest? How can our core competencies be applied?

RGNext is a company you’ve probably never heard of, yet we are quickly approaching our 350^th supported space launch from Florida’s Space Coast and Vandenberg Space Force Base on the Launch and Test Range System Integrated Support Contract (LISC). We also operate Reagan Test Site Engineering and Technical Services (RETS) contract on Kwajalein Atoll in the US Marshall Islands and Huntsville, Alabama, for the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. With the success of these two contracts, RGNext is looking to expand and pursue more work involving Operations, Maintenance and Sustainment for space launch and test range support.

RGNext, or Range Generation Next, is a joint venture formed between Raytheon ‘R” and GDIT “G,” more than nine years ago, to pursue and execute space and test range operations and sustainment. RGNext operates a mixture of decades old legacy sensors to more modern state of the art launch support equipment.  And, our work force is just as diverse.  Our more than 1400 employees, some of whom have decades of experience on the Range, have been instrumental in the meeting space launch milestones and successful aeronautical missions. 

If you think about a modern airport, how many aircraft take off and land in a day?  How long did it take to develop the infrastructure to ensure flights could be reliable and sustainably safe enough to account for that level of complexity? Today a parallel model is unfolding for space exploration, and RGNext is helping to drive these emerging opportunities to open portals to space. Under RGNext’s watch, innovations of launch compression initiatives are facilitating this new standard of service for government and civilian space flight is being achieved.  The transition from one launch every few months to multiple launches within days is already happening. Ultimately, we are seeing the creation of true Space Ports! And, in many ways, this is just the beginning.

We expect 2023, and beyond to continue with an increased launch tempo as more commercial launch providers enter the marketplace. The Range of the Future is happening right before our eyes.

“We are truly living in historic times with an unprecedented tempo of space launches and RGNext has been a huge part of the success of the renewed race for space.  Our Team of dedicated professionals truly have the right stuff and we look forward to continuing to support our launch customers for many years in the future.

- RGNext President Sandra (Sandy) Brown

Our agility and anticipatory actions—led by our incredible workforce—are what set RGNext apart as the preferred US Space Operations Company, operating, maintaining and sustaining civil and national security space ground infrastructure. It is going to continue to be a wild ride!