COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — In July 2023, President Joe Biden overturned a decision by President-elect Donald Trump's first administration to move Space Command HQ from Colorado to Alabama. As Trump prepares to return to the White House, many wonder if his second administration will try the move again.
During a radio talk show interview Monday, Alabama Republican Congressman Mike Rogers said he expects Trump to order Space Command to relocate from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama.
"I think we'll see within the first week that he's in office. He'll sign an executive order reversing Biden's directive, and we will start construction next year in Huntsville," said Rogers.
Those comments reignited a years-long fight over Space Command's permanent home, with some Colorado politicians raising security concerns.
In a statement, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado said, "It’s already been investigated, proven, and decided: Colorado Springs is the best place for Space Command because it's already at work here."
Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado expressed similar sentiments in his statement, saying, "As the world becomes more dangerous, we cannot afford any lapse in combat readiness. Moving an FOC combatant command would unavoidably cause such a lapse."
Explore the history of the fight over Space Command in the timeline below:
In 2019, Trump's first administration reestablished the U.S. Space Command, temporarily basing it out of Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs. As he was leaving office in 2021, however, Trump decided to move Space Command to Alabama.
At the time, then-head of Space Command General James Dickinson argued that moving the headquarters would hurt military readiness. The Associated Press reported that Gen. Dickinson ultimately convinced President Biden in 2023 to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs.
Proponents of keeping the command in Colorado have argued that moving it to Huntsville and creating a new headquarters would set back its progress at a time it needs to move quickly to be positioned to match China's military space rise. And Colorado Springs is also home to the Air Force Academy, which now graduates Space Force guardians, and more than 24 military space missions, including three Space Force bases.
Officials also argued that any new headquarters in Alabama would not be completed until sometime after 2030, forcing a lengthy transition.
Huntsville, however, scored higher than Colorado Springs in a Government Accountability Office assessment of potential locations and has long been a home to some of earliest missiles used in the nation's space programs, including the Saturn V rocket. It is home to the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command.
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Biden decides to keep Space Command in Colorado, rejecting move to Alabama
The Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC estimated the Space Command brought in $450 million for the local economy in 2021, the latest year that information is available.
While a move would be costly, Chandler Reilly, assistant professor of economics at Metropolitan State University Denver, doesn't see it as devastating long-term for Colorado Springs.
"You have universities, other businesses, steel defense contractors and other base activity outside of Peterson, absent of Peterson, who shouldn't expect major declines," said Reilly.
However, he argued that the area would still feel an impact.
"It's not that there's no negative impacts. This is costly and it does hurt, but over the years, there are adjustments that are made," Reilly said.
He said the biggest impact would be felt among the 1,400 people who work at Space Command.
"The military families who will face the cost of this, I would not want to discount those costs that they're going to face," Reilly said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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