Air Force Propulsion Laboratory

 military, lab, United States Air Force

One of the largest rocket test sites in the country. The Air Force Research Lab's Propulsion Directorate has its primary field lab at the remote northeast corner of Edwards AFB, on and around Leuhman Ridge, with additional test facilities on Haystack Butte, covering a total of 65 square miles of the base. The Air Force Research Lab (used to be called Phillips Lab) is one of the primary Air Force labs, concerned with directed energy weapons, space-related defense, and propulsion systems. The Lab has an annual budget of more than $600 million and is headquartered at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with other branches of the lab at Hanscom AFB in Massachusetts. The Edwards facilities serve the Space Experiments Directorate and the Propulsion Directorate. There is a space simulation facility as part of the Astronautics Lab, and several rocket engine test stands, some of which are visible from the highway, prominently sticking out of the top of Leuhman Ridge.

www.pr.afrl.af.mil/
ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA4981/