On Christmas Eve, when Santa Claus slips into NASA-Kennedy Space Center airspace under cover of darkness, a radar controller at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) will be following his every move from a brand new, state-of-the-art traffic control tower. "We've been in contact with Santa, although for security reasons I can't elaborate," said Ron Feile, lead air traffic controller with Space Gateway Services (SGS). "Santa knows about the control tower, and he's very pleased that he can help us give it a shakedown." SLF employees look forward to working in the new facility. It replaces a control tower that has been in use since 1987. Located just south of the SLF's midpoint, the old tower stands only 20 feet above the runway surface, too low to see the launch pads to the east.

Nine contractors have begun work to place a small satellite or other payload weighing about 1,000 pounds into a low Earth orbit. The project is part of the Force Application and Launch from the Continental United States, or FALCON, program. Task 1, Phase 1 on the small launch vehicle includes developing conceptual designs, performance predictions, cost objectives and development and demonstration plans. Three more contractors have also begun work on the phase's Task 2, hypersonic weapon systems. This includes the common aero vehicle, the enhanced common aero vehicle and the hypersonic cruise vehicle.