WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the relocation of the US Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama, in a move that will draw criticism from Democrats.
“We love Alabama. I only won it by about 47 points. I don’t think that influenced my decision, though,” Trump told reporters and lawmakers gathered in the Oval Office.
The Space Command, established in 2019 under the first Trump administration, is responsible for military operations beyond Earth’s atmosphere and defending US satellites from potential threats.
Space Command’s functions also include conducting operations like enabling satellite-based navigation and troop communication and providing warning of missile launches.
Trump’s decision reverses a move made under former President Joe Biden’s administration, which had selected Colorado Springs as the permanent home for the military’s newest combatant command.
Defence officials have previously estimated that relocating the headquarters, which became fully operational in December 2023, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take three to four years to complete, Reuters news agency reported.
According to congressional records cited by Reuters, approximately 1,700 personnel work at Space Command.
Alabama and Colorado have long battled to claim Space Command because it has significant implications for the local economy.
The site has also been a political prize, with elected officials from both Alabama and Colorado asserting their state is the better location.
The announcement caps a four-year back-and-forth on the location of Space Command.
In 2021, the Air Force identified Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville as the preferred location for the new US 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 Defence Department.
Then-President Joe Biden in 2023 announced Space Command would be permanently located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 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.
Trump has often linked federal funding decisions and politics. The president previously blocked a move to put the FBI’s headquarters in Maryland, calling it a “liberal state,” and suggested linking disaster aid in California to the state’s policy decisions.
Huntsville, Alabama, nicknamed Rocket City, has long been home to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre.
The Army’s Space and Missile Defence Command is also located in Huntsville, which drew its nickname because of its role in building the first rockets for the US space programme.
