In a highly anticipated announcement that ends a week of public silence, President Donald Trump is expected to announce the relocation of the Headquarters for U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) from Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The decision, confirmed by multiple sources familiar with the plan, marks the culmination of a four-year political and military tug-of-war between the two states and reverses a previous decision by the Biden administration.
The location of SPACECOM has been a contentious issue since its re-establishment in 2018. In the final days of his first term in 2021, Trump initially chose Huntsville as the headquarters. However, in 2023, President Joe Biden decided to keep the command at its temporary headquarters in Colorado Springs, citing concerns from military leadership about readiness and potential disruptions to operations. This decision was met with outrage from Alabama lawmakers who accused the Biden administration of prioritizing politics over national security.
The move to Huntsville, dubbed “Rocket City” for its long-standing role in the U.S. space program, has been a major goal for Alabama’s political leaders. They argue that the city’s robust aerospace infrastructure, which includes NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, makes it the ideal location. A 2021 Air Force review even identified Redstone Arsenal as the “preferred location” based on factors such as infrastructure, cost, and community support. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report further complicated the issue by finding that the current facilities in Colorado Springs were “not sustainable” for the long term without new construction, adding to the arguments in favor of a move.
For Colorado, which has hosted the command since its inception in 2019, the decision is a significant setback. Lawmakers and officials have long argued that keeping the headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base would prevent a “disruption” in operations at a critical time when the U.S. needs to maintain an edge over rivals like China and Russia in space. The move will require a massive relocation of military and civilian personnel and could impact the area’s economy.
The announcement, which marks President Trump’s first public appearance in a week, has a significant political dimension. The decision to move a major military headquarters to a state that is a strong base of his support, while taking it from a state that has leaned Democratic, is likely to fuel accusations that politics, not military readiness, were the main consideration. As the official announcement is expected later today, the focus will now shift to the implementation of the move and the fierce political debate that will inevitably follow.
