Lompoc Air Force Station Santa Rosa Island Air Force Station ( ADC ID : RP - 15 , NORAD ID : Z - 15 ) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station . It is located south - southwest of Lompoc , California . It was closed in 1968 by the Air Force , and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) . Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) , designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector ( WADS ) Ground Equipment Facility G - 35 . It is also partially used by Air Force Space Command at Vandenberg AFB as a telemetry receiving station . History . Lompoc Air Force Station was established to replace Santa Rosa Island AFS due to the high cost of operating the offshore station . It was given the designation " RP - 15 " upon its activation on 1 April 1963 . Actual construction of the Lompoc AFS began on 1 November 1961 with an expected completion date of 1 September 1962 , and an Operational date of 1 July 1963 . This new station was planned to be a Long Range Radar Site with a GATR facility . It was programmed to be a split site with the headquarters of the 669th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron and dormitories located on Oak Mountain , about 18 miles south of Vandenberg AFB . The site was activated on 23 June 1962 during the construction period , and other squadron personnel were assigned during the months prior to its formal establishment . Rain damage and other construction problems slowed construction and final acceptance of the site was made in January 1963 , and initially the station functioned as a Ground - Control Intercept ( GCI ) and warning station . As a GCI station , the squadron ' s role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit ' s radar scopes . In the early part of 1963 , Lompoc AFS was given the added responsibility of having a limited GCI capability in the DMCC room . In addition , the Operational date was moved ahead 3 months to 1 April 1963 . Through great teamwork and long hours of duty by members of Western GEEIA , Western Electric , Burroughs and squadron personnel , equipment was installed , aligned and tested and this squadron proudly met its operational date of 1 April 1963 . Upon its activation , Lompoc AFS joined Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) system , feeding data to DC - 17 at Norton AFB , California . With the move of the attending 669th AC & W Squadron from Santa Rosa AFS , the squadron was re - designated as the 669th Radar Squadron ( SAGE ) . Lompoc ' s radars provided a complete circle of coverage several hundred miles in radius . Lompoc AFS initially hosted an AN / FPS - 67 search radar and an AN / FPS - 6 A height - finder radar . The Ground Air Transmitting Receiving ( GATR ) Site ( R - 22 ) for communications was located at , approximately 1 mile South from the main site . Normally the GATR site was connected by a pair of buried telephone cables , with a backup connection of dual telephone cables overhead . The Coordinate Data Transmitting Set ( CDTS ) ( AN / FST - 2 ) at the main site converted each radar return into a digital word which was transmitted by the GATR via microwave to the Control Center . The radar squadron provided information 24 / 7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range , direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile . Lompoc AFS was re - designated as NORAD ID Z - 15 on 31 July 1963 . A second AN / FPS - 6 was added in 1964 . The 669th was inactivated in June 1968 due to budget reductions and the draw down of the ADC aircraft radar squadrons . However , the Lompoc GATR site ( R - 22 ) has been retained , and is now site # G - 35 . The site also is used as a telemetry site for the Western Test Range at Vandenberg AFB .