U.S. President Donald Trump announced the transfer of the U.S. Space Command (US SPACECOM) headquarters from Colorado to Alabama. This reverses a decision made by former President Joe Biden after two years. The decision puts an end to the fierce competition between the two states for several years while reigniting political controversy regarding the relocation of national security facilities.
Trump announced the decision on the 2nd (local time) at the White House, where Alabama's congressional delegation was present, saying, "The headquarters of the Space Command will transfer to the beautiful city of Huntsville, Alabama." He referred to Huntsville as "Rocket City" and stated, "This decision will create more than 30,000 jobs and involve hundreds of millions in investment."
In explaining the background of the transfer decision, Trump directly targeted Colorado's mail-in voting system. He claimed, "One of the big issues concerning Colorado is mail-in voting," stating, "This automatically means fraudulent elections and significantly influenced this decision." Trump has consistently raised concerns about mail-in voting in disputing the results of the last presidential election.
Re-established in 2019, the Space Command is a key organization overseeing U.S. military activities in outer space. It carries out missions such as satellite communications, navigation support, and missile launch warnings. The issue of transferring the Space Command headquarters had been a long-standing controversy since the Trump administration's first term. The U.S. Air Force selected Huntsville as the optimal location in 2021 based on a comprehensive assessment of costs, personnel, and infrastructure. However, the controversy escalated when former President Biden abruptly reversed this decision in 2023, deciding to keep the temporary headquarters in Colorado Springs.
At that time, the Biden administration stated that it respected the opinion of the Space Command commander that transferring the headquarters could hinder military readiness. However, Republicans criticized Biden for reversing the decision for political reasons. The Washington Post reported that Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, stated, "The Biden administration made a politically motivated decision," arguing that "the fair competitive result was Huntsville."
Alabama largely welcomed the decision. The Huntsville Redstone Arsenal is a hub for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, making it a center for the space and defense industry. According to political news outlet Axios, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicated that building a headquarters in Huntsville would save $426 million (about 590 billion won) over 15 years compared to remaining in Colorado.
In contrast, Colorado strongly opposed the decision. The entire Colorado congressional delegation, comprising both Democrats and Republicans, issued a joint statement criticizing the decision as "one that weakens national security during the worst possible time," arguing that it "wastes billions of taxpayer dollars and gives advantages to threats like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea." They vowed to use all means, including legal actions, to reverse the decision. The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce estimated that the transfer would result in approximately 1,400 job losses and economic damages amounting to $1 billion (about 1.38 trillion won).
AP noted, "The tug-of-war between the two states and different administrations over four years has ended with Trump's decision." As the Colorado political arena warned of "necessary measures," experts predicted that the conflict surrounding the Space Command headquarters could escalate into legal battles such as administrative lawsuits.