Space Command has been operating from Colorado Springs since 2020.
Space Command is moving to Alabama from Colorado, President Donald Trump announced on Sept. 2.
“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 president said at a press conference in Washington.
“We are way ahead in space, but this will ensure we stay leaps and bounds ahead,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added.
Space Command deploys military personnel to space, including personnel from Space Force. It was established by Trump during his first term.
Space Command has operated from Colorado Springs since January 2020.
Then-President Joe Biden in 2023 opted to keep Space Command at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado.
Alabama officials, including Gov. Kay Ivey, have been urging Trump to move Space Command headquarters to the state.
Trump and Alabama officials said the Huntsville area is ideal because it is already home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, a Blue Origin factory, and contractors such as Lockheed Martin.
“It is the perfect place for Space Command,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said at the briefing.
Lawmakers representing Colorado, who had favored keeping Space Command there, had not immediately reacted to the development.
Trump also said a factor in his decision was how Colorado employs automatic mail-in voting, which he said shows that officials support dishonesty.
The secretary of the Air Force said just before the end of Trump’s first term that Huntsville was the preferred location for Space Command. In 2023, Biden chose Colorado Springs as the permanent location, a decision backed by the Pentagon at the time.
An April report released by the Department of Defense inspector general said that the Redstone Arsenal remained the Air Force’s preferred location for Space Command, according to a review of defense documents and interviews with officials. On the other hand, the commander of Space Command advised keeping it in Colorado Springs.
This is a breaking story that will be updated.
