When the station was opened in 1960, the Sunnyvale area was rural and the station was predominantly surrounded by orchards. By the late 1970s, the region had become Silicon Valley and the station's physical security vulnerabilities became apparent. As a result, Air Force Systems Command commenced plans for the Consolidated Space Operations Center (CSOC), which would be located several miles east of Colorado Springs, Colorado at a to-be-built Falcon Air Force Station (ultimately named Schriever Air Force Base). Spacecraft operations would be split between the two locations and each location would serve as a backup to the other. To maintain this redundancy, when Onizuka Air Force Station was selected for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the Air Force determined to relocate Onizuka's remaining operational units to the new Ellison Onizuka Satellite Operations Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Upon completion of this transition, Onizuka Air Force Station was ceremonially closed on July 28, 2010, and officially closed on September 30, 2010.