What to know about the US military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland

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NUUK, Greenland (AP) — The remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which Vice President JD Vance is visiting on Friday, is the U.S. Department of Defense's northernmost installation.

The base was built following a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

The Pituffik base is located on the northwestern coast of Greenland, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north of the the Arctic Circle and 1,524 kilometers (947 miles) south of the North Pole. It is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) north of Greenland's capital, Nuuk.

It was known as the Thule Air Base until 2023, when it was renamed to recognize Greenlandic cultural heritage and reflect its role in the relatively new U.S. Space Force.

The base is locked in by ice for nine months of the year, but its airfield remains open all year round. It is in constant darkness from November to February and constant daylight from May to August.

It is operated by the 821st Space Base Group and is also home to the world's northernmost deepwater sea port. The nearest town is Qaanaaq, around 120 kilometers (75 miles) to the northwest.