US President Donald Trump is preparing to announce that the headquarters of the Space Command will move from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama, a US official and a person familiar with the talks told Reuters. The Pentagon’s public affairs office said Trump was expected to make a “US Space Command HQ Announcement” at 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT) on Tuesday. The decision would overturn a move made under former President Joe Biden’s administration, which in 2023 selected Colorado Springs as the permanent site for the military’s newest command. Space Command is currently based at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs on a temporary basis. About 1,700 personnel work there, according to congressional records. Some critics told Reuters the change “looks like a political choice” that benefits Alabama, a state that strongly backed Trump, instead of Colorado, which has leaned towards Democrats in recent elections. Trump has in the past tied government spending decisions to politics. Reuters noted that he blocked a proposal to place the FBI’s headquarters in Maryland, calling it a “liberal state”, and once suggested disaster aid for California should depend on the state’s policies. Huntsville has long pushed to host Space Command. The city is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and several major defence contractors, including L3Harris and Lockheed Martin.
