ICYMI: Space Command Is Coming Home to Alabama
‘While this process has shown Washington at its worst, I am confident Huntsville … will show our country at its best’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Wall Street Journal recently published a piece written by U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) in which she highlights President Donald Trump’s decision to honor the U.S. Air Force’s merit-based preferred location of Huntsville for U.S. Space Command permanent headquarters.
“U.S. Space Command has had an uncertain future since its bipartisan re-establishment in 2019. Instead of focusing on threats to the nation, U.S. military space power has been caught in a political fight over where its permanent headquarters should be,” wrote Senator Britt. “Today, President Trump is ending six years of ambiguity over Space Command’s home. He is also restoring integrity to the site-selection process and honoring the U.S. Air Force’s preferred basing decision.”
As Senator Britt mentioned in her piece, the Air Force’s decision in 2021, following a rigorous and objective process, named Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal out of six candidate sites as its preferred site for permanent Space Command headquarters.
The Senator continued, “Soon, however, objectivity was taken out of the equation. Although President Trump’s and President Biden’s Air Force secretaries both recommended Alabama as home for Space Command, the Biden administration chose to play politics by walking away from the Air Force’s merit-based decision.”
“After years of inaction, Mr. Biden decided in July 2023 to redesignate Space Command’s permanent headquarters to Colorado, the location that ranked no higher than fourth in the Air Force’s selection process. By ignoring the Air Force’s preferred location, Mr. Biden showed his hand. This was never about the most qualified location. Instead, it boiled down to politics,” she stated.
Since taking office, Senator Britt has not only joined the entire Alabama delegation in calling for honoring the Air Force’s 2021 announcement, but she has also spoken personally with President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Air Force Secretary Troy Meink advocating for the restoration of this decision. She joined President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Meink, and members of Alabama’s congressional delegation in the Oval Office for the announcement.
Senator Britt highlighted Huntsville’s exceptional capabilities to strengthen American national defense, writing, “While this process has shown Washington at its worst, I am confident Huntsville, Ala., will show our country at its best. Redstone is home to the U.S. Army’s Aviation and Missile Command, as well as Space and Missile Defense Command and the Missile Defense Agency. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Marshall Space Flight Center has flourished there for nearly six decades. The same world-class program that sent a man to the moon in Saturn V rockets in the 1950s and 1960s is now powering man’s return to the moon through NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.”
Senator Britt’s full piece is available HERE.
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