President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Space Command will be located in Alabama, reversing a Biden-era decision to keep it at its temporary headquarters in Colorado. The long-expected decision from Trump caps a four-year tug of war between two states and opposing administrations about where to locate U.S. Space Command, an intense fight because the headquarters would be a significant boon to the local economy. Even Trump admitted that his decision was swayed because Colorado has mail-in balloting.
Alabama and Colorado have long battled to claim Space Command, with elected officials from both states asserting their state is the better location.
“The U.S. Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama, forever to be known from this point forward as Rocket City,” said Trump, flanked by Republican members of Alabama's congressional delegation, from the Oval Office on Tuesday. “We had a lot of competition for this and Alabama's getting it."
APR news explained in its national coverge for NPR how Huntsville, Alabama, nicknamed Rocket City, has long been home to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command is also located in Huntsville, which drew its nickname because of its role in building the first rockets for the U.S. space program.
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said about 1,400 Space Command jobs will transition to Redstone Arsenal over the next five years.
“This decision is not about what’s best for Huntsville – it’s about being mission-focused,” said Battle. “The decision to locate U.S. Space Command at Redstone ensures our nation is prepared to meet growing challenges in space. Huntsville is ready with our experienced workforce, resilient infrastructure and deep commitment to national defense."
The saga stretches back to 2021, when the Air Force identified Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville as the preferred location for the new U.S. Space Command. The city was picked after site visits to six states that compared factors such as infrastructure capacity, community support and costs to the Defense Department.
Trump said Huntsville won the race for the Space Command headquarters, in part, because “they fought harder for it than anybody else.”
Still, even Republican House members like Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank say moving Space Command could harm national security. The China Daily News reports the Beijing is amping up its military presence in Earth orbit, even practicing so called “dog fights” between satellites.
GOP Senator Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor of Alabama, said Huntsville is the “perfect place” for the Space Command headquarters and suggested it be named after Trump. And Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt, who stood next to Trump during the announcement, thanked Trump for “restoring Space Command to its rightful home."
“The Biden administration chose to make this political,” she said. “What we want to do is put the safety and security of Americans first. We want to make sure our American war fighter is put first.”
The Associated Press reported earlier Tuesday that the president would announce the move at the White House after a Pentagon website set up to livestream the remarks described the event hours in advance as a “U.S. Space Command HQ Announcement.”
U.S. Space Command said in a statement on X after the announcement that it “stands ready to carry out the direction of the President following today’s announcement of Huntsville, Alabama as the command’s permanent headquarters location.” Its functions include conducting operations like enabling satellite-based navigation and troop communication and providing warning of missile launches.
Trump on Tuesday said his initial plans to locate the headquarters in Huntsville were “wrongfully obstructed by the Biden administration.” But he also said the fact that Colorado uses mail-in voting “played a big factor also” in moving the headquarters away from Colorado Springs.
“The problem with Colorado is that they have a very corrupt voting system,” Trump said.
A review by the Defense Department inspector general was inconclusive and could not determine why Colorado was chosen over Alabama. Trump, a Republican who enjoys deep support in Alabama, had long been expected to move Space Command back to Alabama.
