Astrotech Space Operations Topping Out Ceremony

Team Vandenberg and collaborating mission partner representatives pose for a group photo after the final steel beam was attached at a topping-out ceremony at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, Sept. 2, 2026. The new payload processing facility, administered by Astrotech Space Operations, will provide increased processing capacity for a host of U.S. Space Force satellite program offices working to field the nation’s eyes and ears in space. The ceremony featured a topping-out tree, which is a traditional evergreen placed on the highest steel beam of a new building to symbolize good luck, growth, and safe construction.