Potential locations included Alabama, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Texas and Nebraska
WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump announced Sept. 2 that U.S. Space Command will move its headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama, marking the latest twist in a years-long fight over where the Pentagon’s newest combatant command should call home.
Speaking from the White House alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and members of Alabama’s congressional delegation, Trump declared: “As you know, this has been going on for a long period of time, and I am thrilled to report that the U.S. Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama.”
The headquarters is slated to be built at Redstone Arsenal, already home to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Huntsville officials and defense contractors have long argued the city is well-positioned to support SPACECOM’s mission.
For more than five years, the command has operated out of Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, where Air Force Space Command was previously located. Peterson became the temporary home in 2019 while a permanent site was evaluated.
Trump initially selected Alabama before leaving office in January 2021, but in 2023, then-President Joe Biden reversed course and kept the headquarters in Colorado. The command reached full operational capability that December.
The tug-of-war has drawn intense lobbying from both states’ political leaders and triggered reviews by federal watchdogs.
Reports from the Department of Defense Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office flagged irregularities in the selection process, fueling claims of political interference from both Colorado Democrats and Alabama Republicans.
When Space Command was reestablished in 2018—17 years after its first iteration was disbanded—the Air Force launched a competitive basing process.
Initial candidates included sites in Colorado, Alabama, and California. The list was later expanded to include six states: Alabama, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Texas, and Nebraska. Trump’s January 2021 decision naming Redstone Arsenal drew immediate criticism, which ultimately led to Biden’s reversal.
Supporters of Peterson argue the command is firmly established in Colorado, warning that a relocation could disrupt operations and weaken national security at a time when threats in space are intensifying. They also cite the presence of the Space Force’s Space Operations Command—the largest component of SPACECOM—at Peterson as evidence that Colorado is the logical home.
Alabama advocates counter that Huntsville offers room to grow, lower construction costs, and a lower cost of living, making it easier to staff the headquarters. They also point to concerns about having too much of the nation’s space enterprise concentrated in Colorado, which they argue poses strategic vulnerabilities.
What the move will look like in practice remains uncertain. Military officials note that combatant commands often have dispersed personnel and facilities. For example, U.S. Central Command is headquartered in Tampa, Fla., but most of its forces are based in the Middle East.
Roughly 1,700 personnel currently work at U.S. Space Command. Defense officials estimate that building new facilities and completing the transition could take three to four years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
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