U.S. Space Command lands on Alabama
Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., was the surprise first choice for U.S. Space Command’s new headquarters.
Wednesday’s announcement was largely unexpected as many analysts and cities viewed Colorado Springs as the top contender. Colorado Springs is home to Space Command's temporary headquarters and was its former headquarters from 1985 to 2002.
“It certainly looks like a politically motivated decision,” Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an email. “I don’t see how it is in the best interests of tax payers to move the headquarters, build new facilities, and relocate all of these people. Moving the headquarters does nothing to help our national security.”
Harrison noted that Colorado voted
for President-elect Joe Biden and Alabama voted for President Donald Trump. Rushing to make this announcement before Trump leaves office makes the selection look political, Harrison said.
Space Command directs military forces as they move beyond the purview of gravity: operating and protecting satellites and working to deter conflict in space.
It is different from the U.S. Space Force, which became the sixth branch of the military on Dec. 20, 2019. Space Force is a military service such as the Army, Navy and Air Force. Military services are responsible for training people and providing equipment.
Military services assign forces to a combatant command, such as Africa Command and Cyber Command, that is responsible for commanding and controlling those forces during military operations. So Space Command is responsible for commanding America’s military space forces. Space Command was originally established in 1985 and then rolled into another command in 2002. It was reactived by Trump’s administration.
Houston was among the many cities that bid for the Space Command headquarters. It was not a finalist, but San Antonio did make the short list.
The Department of the Air Force, which led the site selection process, said that Huntsville provides “a large, qualified workforce, quality schools, superior infrastructure capacity, and low initial and recurring costs.”
The Army’s Redstone Arsenal offered a facility to support the headquarters, at no cost, while the permanent facility is being built, according to a news release. Huntsville is also home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
The Department of the Air Force anticipates making a final decision for the location of U.S. Space Command headquarters in spring 2023, pending the results from a required environmental impact analysis.
It listed reasonable alternative locations as: Albuquerque, N.M.; Bellevue, Neb.; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and San Antonio.
Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, praised the decision as “a true testament to all that Alabama has to offer.”
“I am thrilled that the Air Force has chosen Redstone and look forward to the vast economic impact this will have on Alabama and the benefits this will bring to the Air Force,” Shelby said in a statement.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was less pleased. He released a statement with Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera that called the decision “misguided” and pledged to work with Colorado's federal delegation “to restore integrity to the process as it unfolds.”
“Reports that the indepth military process found Colorado Springs to be the best location for military readiness and cost and recommended Colorado to the President only to be overruled for politically motivated reasons are deeply concerning,” the statement said. “This move threatens jobs, could cause serious economic damage, and upend the lives of hundreds of military and civilian families that were counting on U.S Space Command staying at home in Colorado Springs as well as harm military readiness.”
Colorado Springs remains the provisional Space Command headquarters until its permanent location is ready.