As the Department of Defense works to reform its troubled procurement process, one of the powerful new Space Force portfolio acquisition executives is settling into Colorado Springs.
Col. Richard Beckman arrived in town in early August and will oversee an office of 300 people responsible for purchasing new training and test systems, personnel management infrastructure, and data management capability. Space Force leaders have been focused on more realistic training for guardians for several years.
Beckman replaced Col. Corey Klopstein during a change-of-command ceremony at Peterson Space Force Base in early August. Prior to that ceremony the executive’s office was based in Los Angeles.
Beckman previously served as the commander of the Phillips Research Site and director of the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate.
He will manage employees based primarily at Peterson and Schriever Space Forces Bases, where they can easily work with mission partners, a Space Systems Command spokesperson said.
Shortly before handing off responsibility to Beckman, Klopstein awarded $981 million to 15 different companies with Colorado connections to fund new testing and training technology. The companies are eligible to receive a portion of the whole contract amount over two five-year periods.
The contract was awarded from Colorado Springs.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced in May the portfolio acquisition executive overseeing infrastructure would move from Los Angeles to Colorado Springs.
As one of nine new portfolio acquisition executives, Beckman has greater authority to manage risk and resources across a multi-billion-dollar budget.
The arrival of the portfolio acquisition executive was expected to help replace some of the economic loss the community expects to feel as Space Command moves to Huntsville, Ala., Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colorado Springs, said in May.
The command’s move is already underway and 200 employees are expected to be working from Huntsville this year. About 1,000 jobs are expected to leave Colorado Springs.
Space Command is a combatant command that brings together military members from across the service branches to defend U.S. assets in space.
Some of the other new Space Force executives are charged with priorities such as upgrading missile warning and tracking and space combat power.
The new authority placed on the executives is part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to accelerate defense procurement, with an emphasis on “speed, flexibility and execution,” according to a 2025 executive order. The Government Accountability Office found in 2025 that it took nearly 12 years for the DOD to deliver a new weapon to troops.
The outgoing executive, Klopstein, was honored for his work to provide better opportunities for training, according to a news release.
While he led the office, the Space Force introduced its first-ever cyber range and reworked the electromagnetic spectrum operations range.
“The electromagnetic spectrum operations range is a technical environment focused on ensuring the signal integrity and reliability of the Space Force’s space systems,” a Space Systems Command spokesman said in an email. “It is used to verify that data and communication links perform as designed against baseline radio frequency interferences.”
Klopstein’s team also set up the foundational orbital range, which represents the Space Force’s enterprise wide test and training systems.
“It comprises the secure infrastructure needed to safely evaluate and validate next-generation space capabilities at scale,” the spokesman said in an email.
Electromagnetic warfare became commonplace across the battlefield in Ukraine as soldiers from both Russia and Ukraine have jammed GPS and communication signals.
During Klopstein’s tenure, the budget for test and training priorities grew from $870 million to $2 billion.
The budget is growing as the Space Force advocates to double its manpower over five years.