KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Could name changes be in the future for military bases on Florida's Space Coast?

For decades, the Space Coast has been home to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base.

But now that the Air Force Space Command is out and the U.S. Space Force is overseeing them, could those facilities get renamed?

"They probably will have something with Space Force in them," 45th Space Wing commander Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess said. "No change to what we actually do, but changes to what they call them."

Schiess commands the 45th Space Wing and directs the Eastern Range, the 15-million-square-mile area where rockets launch and land on the Space Coast and beyond.

Space Force was signed into law last month as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

Schiess says creating a sixth branch of the military, designed to protect American space interests, aligns with the mission already being done.

"It's right in line with what the 45th Space Wing has done," Schiess said. "For the last 70 years, we've been excelling at launches here, at Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and we are going to continue that in the United States Space Force."

What's still unknown is whether Florida will be the home of command headquarters for Space Force.

Although the Air Force's draft list of potential locations last year did not include Florida, state leaders are still pushing for a Space Coast location.