Ribbon Cutting at Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal Welcomes U.S. Space Command

Gen. Stephen Whiting, Commander of U.S. Space Command, participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday to mark the official beginning of USSPACECOM’s move to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. The occasion comes after a five-year battle between Alabama and Colorado to be USSPACECOM’s permanent home.

On September 2, 2025, President Trump settled the issue of where to put the headquarters of USSPACECOM.

Trump reestablished USSPACECOM in 2019 after a 17-year hiatus and Colorado Springs, CO became its temporary location while the Air Force went through a formal base selection process. Several military space facilities are in Colorado Springs so existing infrastructure was available to get it up and running quickly.

Seven days before leaving office in January 2021, Trump selected Huntsville as USSPACECOM’s permanent site. The Colorado congressional delegation turned to President Biden to reconsider the decision as soon as he took office.

An intense, fractious debate ensued not between political parties, but between the Colorado and Alabama congressional delegations on a bipartisan basis. Investigations by the DOD Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office were demanded into whether proper procedures were followed by the Air Force selection process.

In July 2023, Biden decided to keep USSPACECOM in Colorado, but Alabama’s Rep. Mike Rogers, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, vowed that was not the last word. Another DOD review was released soon after Trump returned to office in 2025. A few months later Trump again chose Huntsville.

USSPACECOM says it began identifying facility requirements immediately after Trump’s order, leading to their Joint Intelligence Support Element (JISE) starting the move-in process on Wednesday, April 29.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 29, Whiting told Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville (R) they are modifying an existing building to serve as a top secret SCIF — Secure Compartmented Information Facility — for now, but planning a completely new building to serve as USSPACECOM headquarters. That won’t be ready until 2031 and he expects it will take another year or so for personnel to move. In the meantime they are strengthening retention and relocation bonuses to ensure mission continuity as the transition from Colorado to Alabama progresses.

USSPACECOM is one of the 11 Unified Combatant Commands and separate from the U.S. Space Force, a military service that is part of the Department of the Air Force. The six military services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard) “organize, train, and equip” personnel who are assigned to the unified commands as needed for warfighting.