Mojave Air & Space Port

Beyond the Tarmac: Securing Mojave’s Air & Space Port

Literally, a “field of dreams” is located 100 miles north of Los Angeles, California, known as the Mojave Air and Space Port. A legendary home to maverick engineers, palm sweating test pilots and real “outer space junkies”. It’s known as a Civilian Aerospace Test Center, officially deemed a “spaceport” by the FAA. It is among the first in the United States to be licensed for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft. This remotely located airfield can appear dusty and mundane on any given day, yet it often ignites with excitement during events like: air racing, flight tests, rocket launches, the fastest mile by car and motorcycle and competitive space programs such as the Ansari X Prize, the first awarded civilian launch of a manned spacecraft into space.

First opened in 1935, it served as a rural airfield to the local gold and silver mining industry. Since then it has changed administrative hands many times, from the Marine Corps to the Navy to the East Kern Airport District. In 2013, it officially took on the spaceport name and is now well known around the world. It is also home to over 70 companies, among those is XCOR, Firestar Technologies, BAE Systems, Flight Research, National Test Pilot School and The Spaceship Company. Most notable is the works of industry pioneer, Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne by Scaled Composites, currently owned by Northrop Grumman. Keeping the space dream very much alive, Mojave also houses Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, a leader in the future of private and civilian space travel. The spaceport’s north side includes the Mojave boneyard, where large commercial aircraft are seen being dismantled and recycled.

So, where does one turn when you want to secure the gates of such a high-profile playground in the middle of a vast desert?
Chief Operating Officer Kevin Wojtkiewicz of the Mojave Air and Space Port turned to PCSC. “The lack of response to our needs from PCSC’s competitors led us closer to considering PCSC’s access control solutions. We replaced a DSX system, and now utilize PCSC’s LiNC-XS platform. As the end-user of PCSC’s solutions, we’re very satisfied with the performance,” said Kevin. All the main gates, including General Aviation are secured with PCSC IQ Series panels and various PCSC readers. Among other high technology detection and surveillance, cameras and video event recording closely monitor activity around the clock. Card access and administration is also handled by LiNC-XS. PCSC’s Dealer, Code3 IT and System Integration of Mojave is responsible for the site’s setup and installation.

“We’re delighted to have our products in use throughout the Mojave Air and Space Port,” said Al Portal, PCSC’s Director of Sales, Americas. “The Mojave desert is an environment of extreme conditions. Record breaking heat and cold, high winds and desert sand put our hardware through the ultimate test. If it can survive out here, it’ll survive anywhere else,” says Mr. Portal. “As the air and space port evolves we see opportunity for growth and the use of our solutions in many of the facilities here.”

PCSC’s products also secure the gates to hangers and other administrative offices, such as those operated by Mojave’s Flight Research Inc., a provider of Upset Recognition and Recovery Training in jet and turboprop aircraft. PCSC currently has access control and security solutions operating in use globally in World airports in addition to other vertical markets that demand high security. PCSC is a leader in access innovation, offering the world’s first patented Fault Tolerant Architecture (FT). The FT is the next evolution of building security management designed with an automated process of system recovery for access control, alarm monitoring and output control systems. Visit us online at PCSCsecurity.com

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