In a high-profile announcement from the Oval Office of the White House, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters will be located in Huntsville.
Joined by Alabama’s U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and Alabama Congressmen Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Gary Palmer, Barry Moore and Dale Strong – Trump brought an end to years of delay and politicization by the Biden administration.
“As you know, this has been going on for a long period of time, and I am thrilled to report that the U.S. Space Command Headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama,” President Trump said, “forever to be known from this point forward as Rocket City.”
“We love Alabama.”
“This will result in more than 30,000 Alabama jobs, and probably much more than that, and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment. And that’s billions, because it can’t be millions, it’s billions and billions of dollars. Most importantly, this decision will help America defend and dominate the high frontier, as they call it,” President Trump said.
Today’s announcement is the final chapter in a situation that began in 2021 when the U.S. Air Force selected Redstone Arsenal as the preferred site, identifying Huntsville as objectively best suited for the mission.
President Joe Biden stalled and ultimately reversed the process in July 2023, opting instead to locate the headquarters in Colorado Springs.
Throughout the remainder of Biden’s administration, Alabama’s congressional delegation unleashed a relentless campaign to investigate the decisionmaking process and secure the merit-based choice to base the headquarters in Huntsville.
Numerous government reviews have since reaffirmed that Huntsville won on the merits, which Alabama lawmakers celebrated on Tuesday.
In March 2023, Yellowhammer News published a non-public, 87-page Government Accountability Office report showing Redstone ranked first in both the Air Force’s Evaluation and Selection phases, while Colorado Springs ranked fifth in the final Selection Phase.
On Tuesday, President Trump also said Space Command in Huntsville would play a key role in building the “Golden Dome” missile-defense shield, which help keep U.S. technological capabilities unmatched.
U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) each spoke from the White House on Tuesday.
“This move will save the taxpayers $480 million. It’s not going to cost more — it’s going to cut $480 million, we have the plans intact,” Tuberville said.
“It will be behind a secure wall in Huntsville, Alabama — Redstone Arsenal. We have 40,000 people there. We have the FBI there. We have missile defense. There we have NASA, Blue Origin, and SpaceX. It is the perfect place for Space Command, I would tell you today, and again, I’ve spoke with the President for the last three or four years about this. If I thought it needed to go somewhere else, because I understand the security of our country, I’d be for that,” Tuberville continued.
“But the best place for Space Command is Huntsville, Alabama, because what we have and what it means to this country is going to be so important. So thank you, Mr. President, for this, and we look forward to building a huge space command and having the ‘Donald J. Trump Space Command Center’ in Huntsville, Alabama,” Tuberville said.
U.S. Senator Katie Britt also thanked President Trump and said that locating the permanent Space Command headquarters at Redstone Arsenal is in the best national security interest of the United States.
“To the detriment of U.S. national security, President Biden chose to undermine the integrity of the process and put politics ahead of merit by yanking this military decision out of the Air Force’s hands.”
“I’m deeply grateful to President Trump and Secretary Hegseth for their commitment to keep politics out of this basing decision and allow the Air Force to proceed with doing its job. Alabama’s world-class aerospace and defense workforce, capabilities, and synergies stand ready to fulfill the mission and strengthen our national security long into the future,” Britt continued.
“I’m proud that Alabama’s congressional delegation – working tirelessly together on a bipartisan basis – has won this fight on behalf of our great state and America’s national security interests.”
Two Alabama congressmen, Chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) and U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (R-Huntsville), who’s district includes Redstone Arsenal, were on the forefront of the fight to maintain Alabama as the final headquarters location.
“Space Command is finally coming home to Alabama. This announcement by President Trump is yet another in a long line of strong decisions that benefit America’s national security,” Rogers said.
“Alabama was chosen in 2021 because it was the absolute best location for the Space Command headquarters. Today, in 2025, it remains the best location for our national security and for the taxpayer. This basing decision has been affirmed and reaffirmed by multiple agencies and multiple officials throughout both the Trump and Biden administrations. Biden was content to have Space Command located in the fourth best location because it served him politically. The differences between him and President Trump has never been clearer.”
Rogers concluded, “On this historic day, I am extremely proud to be an American, proud to be an Alabamian, and proud to support the Administration who made this possible.”
U.S. Space Command is a unified combatant command that plans, fights, and integrates U.S. military space power. It is distinct from the U.S. Space Force, which organizes and equips space forces that Space Command employs in operations.
The original Space Command stood up in 1985, was folded into U.S. Strategic Command in 2002, and was re-established in 2019.
It employs roughly 1,700 personnel and oversees global military space operations.
Moving the headquarters is a multi-year project that entails facilities work, workforce planning, and phased transition of staff and functions.
Unofficial estimates indicate it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but ultimately align the command with the Air Force’s most cost-effective, mission-ready option.
Huntsville offers an ideal ecosystem, including Redstone Arsenal, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and a major defense-industrial base, that leaders say will speed full operational maturity at a lower long-run cost than any other alternative.
North Alabama’s Congressman, Dale Strong, celebrated the news from the White House today, saying that Space Command is returning to its rightful home.
“I join all of Alabama in welcoming Space Command to our great state. I’ve said all along that basing the Headquarters in Huntsville is not a political decision; it’s a national security one. North Alabama has long been the linchpin of defending our interests at home and abroad, and we are prepared to now do our part in defending American interests in space,” Strong said.
“It’s been rewarding to play a role in every step of this process and to ensure that Space Command’s Headquarters rightfully resides in the most capable and best-equipped community – which has been proven time and again to be Redstone Arsenal.”
Strong added, “I want to thank President Trump and Secretary Hegseth for their commitment to doing what is best for the security and future of our nation, and I remain grateful for the unified support of the entire Alabama delegation along the way. I am excited for all that is to come, and now – it’s time to move dirt.”
According to the City of Huntsville, about 1,400 Space Command jobs will transition to Redstone Arsenal over the next five years and that state and local partners have reaffirmed their original commitments made during the original 2020 site selection process.
“This decision is not about what’s best for Huntsville – it’s about being mission-focused,” said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle.
“The decision to locate U.S. Space Command at Redstone ensures our nation is prepared to meet growing challenges in space. Huntsville is ready with our experienced workforce, resilient infrastructure and deep commitment to national defense.”
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
