Dem
47
GOP
53
For years there has been a battle about where the U.S. Space Command Headquarters should be. Decisions like this are partly based on facts and what makes sense, but are mostly based on politics. Why do you think the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is in Texas, rather than in Florida, where the rockets take off?
The main alternatives for the Space Command were Colorado Springs, CO, and Huntsville, AL. In his first term, Trump decided the headquarters should be in Huntsville. Joe Biden didn't like that. The argument for Colorado is that multiple Space Force bases are there, along with NORAD, USNORTHCOM, and the Air Force Academy. There is a lot of Air Force and Space Force infrastructure there and a big aerospace industry. For that reason, Biden decided to put the Space Command there as well.
Donald Trump doesn't like Colorado because it voted against him in 2016, 2020 and 2024. It also has mail-in voting, which doesn't have much to do with space, but he doesn't like that either, so he has decided to move the Space Command to Huntsville, AL, where the Army's Redstone Arsenal and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center are located. It is expected about 1,400 jobs will move from Colorado to Alabama. Civilians whose jobs are being moved to a state that bans abortions may decide to quit, of course, but Space Force personnel don't have that choice. It is possible, but unlikely, that a future Democratic president moves it back to Colorado. Moving the Command every 4 years doesn't help readiness.
The governor of Colorado and all members of the state's congressional delegation were up in arms about the move—even Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). They are arguing that the move wastes taxpayer money and Alabama offers no advantages over the current location in Colorado Springs. It is very unlikely Trump will pay any attention to them, not even to Boebert. (V)