Trump awards Space Command HQ to Alabama, citing political loyalty

(CN) — Headquarters for U.S. Space Command will move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama, President Donald Trump announced in an Oval Office address Tuesday. The decision reverses a Biden-era decision to keep SPACECOM at its initial location at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado and settles a lengthy strategic and political campaign to move it to Alabama.

“In my first term … I created a thing called Space Force,” Trump recalled during the announcement, as he was surrounded by officials from the Department of Defense and Alabama politicians. “We were losing the race in space very badly to China and to Russia, and now we’re far and away number one in space, and reestablish space calm with a mission to protect American space assets and detect any threat to our homeland. We initially selected Huntsville for the SPACECOM headquarters, yet those plans were wrongfully obstructed by the Biden administration.”

Trump didn’t deny politics played into his decision, noting he won Alabama by a large percentage in 2024. He contrasted that with Colorado’s “crooked” election laws, blaming fraudulent mail-in ballots for his loss there and the decision to strip the state of SPACECOM.

“That played a big factor,” Trump said, claiming the move would create 30,000 jobs and billions in investment for Huntsville, though local estimates are far lower. Most importantly, he added, it would help America “defend and dominate” space, including with the proposed “Golden Dome” missile system.

SPACECOM was initially recommended for relocation to Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal in a January 2021 Air Force report. The report ranked Huntsville first among six sites for its defense infrastructure and workforce, with Colorado Springs fifth.

In 2022, a report by the Government Accountability Office criticized the Air Force’s selection process for lacking transparency and failing most best practices, suggesting it was vulnerable to political influence. A year later, President Joe Biden retained SPACECOM in Colorado Springs, citing its full operational status and national security needs.

Alabama Republicans, including Senator Tommy Tuberville and Congressman Mike Rogers, blasted Biden’s move as political. Since Trump’s return to office, Tuberville, Senator Katie Britt and Congressman Dale Strong have introduced resolutions backing Huntsville’s stability, while state officials privately urged Trump to relocate the command.

Alongside Trump at the White House Tuesday, Senator Tuberville noted Redstone Arsenal already hosts 40,000 employees of NASA, the FBI, Blue Origin, SpaceX and others in the defense industry. Citing a 2025 GAO report, Tuberville said the move would save taxpayers roughly $480 million over 15 years.

“I’ve spoken with the President for the last three or four years about this,” Tuberville said. “If I thought it needed to go somewhere else, because I understand the security of our country, I’d be for that. But the best place for Space Command is Huntsville, Alabama.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the move was vetted by the inspector general of the Department of Defense and the GAO, and will provide the nation with a “strategic advantage” in space.

“We are way ahead in space, but this will ensure we stay leaps and bounds ahead, because that’s the most important domain,” Hegseth said. “Whoever controls the skies will control the future of warfare.”

A joint statement from the Colorado congressional delegation Tuesday said the state would fight to reverse the decision.

“Moving Space Command headquarters weakens our national security at the worst possible time,” they claim, suggesting it will waste “billions of taxpayer dollars” and cause disorganization, favoring America’s enemies.

“Space Command’s long-term presence in Colorado Springs has also created a large number of civilian businesses and workers on which the Command now relies,” the statement continued. “Those people will not simply move with the Command at the military’s whim. Many of them will  leave the industry altogether, creating a disruption in the workforce that will take our national defense systems decades to recreate.”

The 2025 GAO report partially concluded that “although a move from Colorado Springs would disrupt the civilian workforce, mitigation measures were available to support a move away from that location.”

Responding to press questions, Trump elaborated that Redstone Arsenal’s campus and location were better suited for SPACECOM, while suggesting any employee not willing to make the move would be easily replaced. He concluded that Alabama fought hardest for the move, and they won as a result.

“I hope to also ensure that our technological capabilities … remain unmatched long into the future,” he said. “[Alabama] really wanted it badly, and they got it.”

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