President Trump announced he intends to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama. The announcement follows an earlier choice at the end of his first term and contrasts with the Biden administration's 2023 warning that such a move could put military readiness at risk. Space Command coordinates and oversees national space assets and provides them to the Space Force for possible deployment. The move was presented as bringing thousands of jobs and billions in investment to Huntsville, nicknamed "Rocket City." Huntsville hosts the Marshall Space Flight Center, which has long been central to U.S. rocket development and ISS science. The relocation decision has political ramifications given Alabama's Republican lean and Colorado's shifting politics.
President Trump announced he intends to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Ala., in an Oval Office announcement on Tuesday. This is not the first time Trump intended to move Space Command to Alabama permanently. During the final days of his first term, he announced his choice over other locations, saying he personally made the decision. Then in 2023, the Biden administration said the move could put military readiness at risk.
Space Command coordinates and oversees the nation's space assets and provides them to the newest branch of the U.S. military, Space Force, for possible deployment. Trump created Space Force during his first term to pursue U.S. superiority in space. Trump was joined by Alabama's U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt. He said moving Space Command to Alabama's so-called "Rocket City" could benefit the local economy by bringing in thousands of jobs and "billions of dollars of investment."
Huntsville was the center of rocket development for NASA starting in the 1960s. The Marshall Space Flight Center tested the engines for spacecraft ranging from the Saturn Five booster that landed astronauts on the moon, to current spacecraft for SpaceX and Blue Origin, both privately-owned companies with significant government contracts. The NASA facility also oversees science performed aboard the International Space Station.
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