It’s Official: Space Command Moving to Huntsville
By Dale Hines
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
September 3, 2025
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (WHNT) It’s official. Redstone Arsenal will be home to U.S. Space Command, President Donald Trump announced.
The president made the announcement on September 2.
Redstone Arsenal had long been considered as an option for the permanent headquarters of the command, which has been operating at its provisional headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, while the Air Force continued to review a potential move. The command was established August 2019, the Space Command website states.
U.S. Space Command is one of the 11 unified combatant commands within the Department of Defense. The command employs joint forces from the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Space Force and “is responsible for delivering space capabilities to joint and combined forces and protecting and defending the space domain.”
The Rocket City was named a finalist for USSPACECOM in November 2020 when Trump was in his first presidential term.
In January 2021, the Secretary of the Air Force, on behalf of the Office of Secretary of Defense, named Redstone Arsenal as the preferred permanent location for the headquarters, and the Department of Defense later found that the evaluation process had been done reasonably.
Then in 2023, former President Joe Biden decided to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs, where it had been temporarily based pending a final decision. Officials said Biden was convinced by then Space Command Head General James Dickinson, who argued the move would negatively affect military readiness, a view in contrast to Air Force leadership at the time.
Biden’s decision led to calls for investigations into it from Alabama lawmakers, including Congressmen Mike Rogers and Dale Strong and Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt.
A report from the DOD Office of the Inspector General, reviewing the 2023 decision, was released on April 15. It stated that, in multiple reviews, Redstone Arsenal was consistently found to be the preferred choice for a permanent headquarters for Space Command. The report estimated that construction and full technology conversion to prepare for Space Command at Redstone Arsenal could take 3 to 4 years.
The report also found that moving the headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville could save $426 million, primarily due to lower costs for construction and personnel. However, in the summer of 2023, Colorado Springs was selected as the permanent home for Space Command’s headquarters.
Over the last several months, members of Alabama’s congressional delegation have said the announcement was coming soon, with Sen. Tuberville telling the press on July 24 that he had conversations with the President and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that week regarding Space Command coming to Huntsville.
“They are ready,” Tuberville said. “We are ready to seal the deal once and for all.”
Tuberville said the state has coordinated with leadership in Madison County, putting adequate plans in place to host Space Command.
“We’ve got to do it the right way,” Tuberville said. “We don’t want something to fall through that’s not carried through the proper stages, and when it’s done, we want it to be done. We don’t need any more reviews, anything like that.”
Strong also described conversations he had recently with Trump about Redstone Arsenal’s ability to house the command.
“The President has made promises related to doing what’s right for national security,” Strong said. “Every evaluation points to Redstone Arsenal. We have no time to waste. It’s time to go vertical, and I feel that a decision is imminent.”
Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville has been home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center since 1960 and has also been home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command since 1957, when the Army created the first program office for ballistic missile defense.
After World War II, the Army installation became the heart of the Army’s rocket and missile programs.
Because Redstone Arsenal has such diversity, it is known as a Federal Center of Excellence. Redstone Garrison Public Affairs released a fact sheet for the installation. Some of the installation’s larger organizations are listed below.
U.S. Army Materiel Command – one of four Army Commands
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command
U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office
Missile Defense Agency – headquartered at Fort Belvoir; large presence on the Arsenal
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center – the largest NASA center
FBI – unofficial second headquarters with two campuses on the Arsenal
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities and Development Command’s Aviation & Missile Center
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; includes National Center for
Explosives Training and Research
Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
Program Executive Office – Aviation
Program Executive Office – Missiles and Space
Army Contracting Command
U.S. Army Security Assistance Command
Army Futures Command Cross Functional Teams – Future Vertical Lift; Contested
Logistics; All-Domain Sensing
Redstone Test Center
Corps of Engineers
Space Development Agency
2nd Recruiting Brigade
Below is a list of the warfighting units used in Space Command, per its website:
A spokesperson for the White House said the transition is expected to bring Alabama 30,000 new jobs. You can read that statement below.
“The Air Force’s merit-based decision to relocate SPACECOM to Huntsville is a win for national security and displays President Trump’s commitment to securing the United States’ global dominance. SPACECOM’s new headquarters at Redstone Arsenal puts them in the best situation to improve readiness and protect our national interests while providing the necessary infrastructure capacity, community support, cost effectiveness, and proximity to a skilled workforce, leading space companies, and major research institutions. While the nation benefits from a strong SPACECOM presence, Alabama can also expect 30,000 new jobs, housing demand, and additional local business development.”
For more information on the United States Space Command, https://www.spacecom.mil/About/Frequently-Asked-Questions/
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