U.S. Space Command will get a new home, but it still won’t land at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Hours before the latest launch from Vandenberg on Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Space Command would relocate from Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

While decisions about where to base military units and organizations usually analyze various factors such as quality of life, Trump cited Colorado’s mail-in voting for the decision to dump Colorado for Alabama.

The decision reversed an action by former President Joe Biden to designate Peterson SFB, the presumptive front-runner, as the site for the U.S. Space Command.

Several years ago, the campaign to find a home for U.S. Space Command saw Central Coast leaders lobby hard for defense leaders to select Vandenberg.

Several years ago, the Santa Barbara County base landed among six finalists also including Redstone Arsenal in Alabama plus Peterson, Buckley SFB, Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station and Schriever SFB, all in Colorado.

While Vandenberg launches attracted the most attention, the base is home to organizations, including U.S. Space Forces-Space, that report to U.S. Space Command. 

Space Command is not the same as U.S. Space Force headquarters, which is located at the Pentagon alongside the counterparts for the other branches of the military.

U.S. Space Command returned in 2019 as the 11th “combatant command,” joining others such as European Command and Cyber Command focused on geographical areas or unique missions. They are joint organizations, meaning they have members from all branches of the military.

Landing the U.S. Space Command headquarters would mean hundreds of jobs for a community.

The General Accounting Office conducted a review of the preferred location for a headquarters more than two years ago, producing a report in May titled “U.S. Space Command: Air Force’s Reevaluation of Headquarters Location.”

“At the culmination of this process in June 2023, the Air Force revalidated Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as its preferred headquarters location,” the GAO report stated. 

However, the then-secretary of the Air Force did not announce a final decision, and in July 2023, defense officials announce Colorado Springs as the permanent location. 

By 2023, U.S. Space Command reached full operational capability, but officials told GAO that they faced ongoing personnel, facilities and communications challenges. 

“Officials also cited benefits in being colocated with operational space missions and centers. As a result of identified challenges, officials stated the Command’s posture is not sustainable long term and new military construction would be needed to support the headquarters’ operations in Colorado Springs, Colorado.”

That state’s leader quickly denounced the “deeply disappointing decision.” 

“This is the wrong decision, diminishing military readiness and national security and eroding the trust Americans have in our country and its leaders to do the right thing. Uprooting Space Command will weaken national security and readiness, waste taxpayer dollars, and inconvenience military families,” Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said.

Colorado officials have vowed to file legal challenges to the Trump administration plan to relocate U.S. Space Command headquarters.

Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, whose statement seemingly confused Space Force and Space Command, heralded the decision for the headquarters “coming to Sweet Home Alabama.”

“As our history shows, Alabama always stands ready to support the defense of our great nation, and Huntsville continues proving the Rocket City is truly ‘Space Central,’” Ivey said. 

The announcement came as the busy space launch rate continued at Vandenberg, where 24 Starlink satellites headed to space just before 9 p.m. Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission employed a brand-new first-stage booster that marked its debut launch and landing.

Another Falcon 9 rocket mission is planned for as soon as Saturday at Vandenberg with liftoff planned between 8:42 a.m. and 12:42 p.m., according to SpaceX.