WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that U.S. Space Command will be relocated to Alabama, reversing a Biden-era decision to keep it at its temporary headquarters in Colorado Springs.
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. 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.”
Trump said Huntsville won the race for the Space Command headquarters, in part, because “they fought harder for it than anybody else.”
The decision is a slap in the face to the three Republicans in Colorado’s congressional delegation, who had been fighting to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs. It’s a particular political blow to U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, a Republican whose district includes Colorado Springs.
Democrats and Republicans in Colorado had teamed up to try to persuade Trump to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce estimates that Space Command is tied to nearly 1,400 jobs in Colorado and has an annual economic impact of $1 billion. The Colorado Springs Chamber says the aerospace and defense industries account for at least 40% of the economy in Colorado Springs, employing more than 110,000 people.
The Associated Press reported earlier Tuesday that the president would announce the move at the White House. A Pentagon website set up to livestream the remarks described the event hours in advance as a “U.S. Space Command HQ Announcement.”
Space Command’s functions include conducting operations like enabling satellite-based navigation and troop communication and providing warning of missile launches.
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.
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.
Then-President Joe Biden in 2023 announced Space Command would be permanently located in Colorado Springs, which had been serving as its temporary headquarters. Biden’s Democratic administration said that keeping the command in Colorado Springs would avoid a disruption in readiness.
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.
