President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that U.S. Space Command – one of the Defense Department’s (DOD) 11 unified combatant commands – will relocate from Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado to Redstone Arsenal, an Army installation in Huntsville, Ala.
“I am thrilled to report that the U.S. Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama,” Trump told reporters at a press conference, calling the move a historic moment for the nation’s space and defense efforts.
U.S. Space Command was originally established in 1985, dissolved in 2002, and then reestablished in 2019 during Trump’s first term as president. The command’s mission is to defend American assets in space and respond to threats against the homeland.
Trump said the move would deliver a major economic boost to Alabama, bringing more than 30,000 new jobs and attracting “hundreds of billions of dollars” in investments. He also announced that Space Command will play a central role in developing the Golden Dome for America – a comprehensive missile defense shield established by his Jan. 27, 2025, executive order – designed to protect the nation from aerial threats and guarantee second-strike capabilities in the event of an attack.
“We were losing the race in space very badly to China and Russia, and now we’re far and away number one in space,” Trump said. “We’re reestablishing Space Command with a mission to protect American space assets and detect any threat to our homeland.”
“What you’re doing today, Mr. President, is restoring [Space Command] to precisely where it should be,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Whoever controls the skies will control the future of warfare; and, Mr. President, today you’re ensuring that happens.”
The announcement caps years of back-and-forth over the future of Space Command.
In January 2021, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall named Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal as the preferred location for the Space Command headquarters, pending environmental review. That review was completed in September 2022 and reaffirmed Alabama as the top choice. However, a final decision was delayed.
In July 2023 under President Joe Biden, the Department of the Air Force announced the headquarters would remain in Colorado, citing potential impacts to combat readiness. Senior military leaders raised concerns that moving the command could create operational disruption. Despite this, a DOD Inspector General’s report found that relocating to Alabama would save an estimated $426 million due to lower personnel and construction costs.
The Trump administration has now overridden Biden’s decision, declaring that Space Command will indeed move to Huntsville – though no timeline has yet been announced.
Mixed Political Reactions
Alabama lawmakers welcomed the announcement with enthusiasm. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), standing beside the president, called it a “restoration” of Space Command to its “rightful home.”
“We are grateful for your leadership on this and restoring Space Command to its rightful home in Huntsville, Alabama,” Britt said.
Colorado’s delegation, however, strongly opposed the move. In a joint bipartisan statement, the full Colorado congressional delegation blasted the decision, calling it “damaging to national security.”
“Moving Space Command sets our space defense apparatus back years, wastes billions of taxpayer dollars, and hands the advantage to the converging threats of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea,” the delegation’s statement reads. Lawmakers also warned that many civilian workers vital to the command’s operations would be unwilling or unable to relocate to Alabama, creating a long-term workforce disruption.
“We are united in fighting to reverse this decision,” the delegation said, vowing to take the “necessary action” to keep Space Command in the state.
Despite the pushback, the Trump administration appears firm in its decision.