Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and a group of bipartisan state officials are urging Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to reconsider and “pause” former President Donald Trump’s decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Alabama, saying it will “undermine” the country’s ability to respond to national security threats in space, Fox News informed.
The U.S. Air Force last month announced that Space Command’s headquarters would be officially moved to Huntsville, Ala.’s, Redstone Arsenal after an intense lobbying battle between six finalists — which included Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
In a letter to Austin, Polis, Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers and a group of bipartisan state legislators requested that he “pause the move” and “conduct a thorough review of the previous administration’s last-minute decision to move USSPACECOM” from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs to Alabama.
“Without a review, this hasty decision will undermine our country’s ability to respond to national security threats in space,” they wrote, adding that they “have concerns about the transparency, impartiality, and bias of the process that the previous administration used when coming to a final decision that should be addressed prior to any final decision on permanent basing.”
The state leaders said there is “significant risk that this hastily made and nontransparent decision will be disruptive to the service members and civilians who are conducting the current mission.”
“Colorado is home to unique military and intelligence space assets and is currently the nexus of military and intelligence space operations,” they wrote. “Experienced personnel with appropriate skills and expertise and proper resourcing are successfully conducting their mission here in Colorado Springs. Furthermore, Colorado Springs, and Colorado’s existing way of life and workforce will both attract and retain workforces, while our local institutions of higher education will train the space workforce of tomorrow.”
The Colorado state officials noted that when the government relocated the Missile Defense Agency to Huntsville, “80% of its civilian workforce opted not to relocate.”
“This nation cannot afford such disruption to the mission in the face of current threats,” they warned.
Last month, in an interview with Fox News, Suthers slammed the move as a “politically motivated decision.”
“If looked at objectively, in terms of the cost of moving and stability of Space Command and national security, it makes no sense whatsoever— in interest of national security or the American taxpayer,” Suthers told Fox News.
Suthers also told Fox News that the Air Force had advised Trump to keep Space Command in their city.
But a source familiar told Fox News that Trump left the decision up to Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett.
Last month, Barrett, along with the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, John Henderson, went to the White House to meet with Trump and other senior Trump administration officials to discuss where the new home of Space Command should be, said two Defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the meeting.
The officials told Fox News that Barrett carried with her the “detailed analysis,” which included the recommendation.
“The analysis put Redstone on top,” the official told Fox News of the Redstone Arsenal, located in Huntsville, dubbed the “Rocket City” for its association with space.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile command, US. Missile Defense Agency as well as the Defense Intelligence Agency’s missile and space intelligence center are some of the space operations located in Huntsville.
The Saturn V rocket, which took the first Americans to the moon, was developed at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville in the 1960s. The aerospace industry has remained a major component of northern Alabama’s economy in the decades since.
But the prospect of leaving Colorado would not be easy for thousands of Air Force personnel and contractors who have called the Rocky Mountains home for decades. Over 18,000 people are based at the combined Peterson-Schriever Garrison, the current home of U.S. Space Command, according to Air Force officials.
“Our space people grew up in Colorado, that’s their home,” one Air Force official said. “It’s where all our space stuff is.”
The garrison brings in an estimated $2.6 billion annually to Colorado Springs, according to the base website.
The official said that in the short term, it makes sense for U.S. Space Command to remain in Colorado Springs but admitted the facilities in the area are “very full.”
There would be more opportunity to expand in Huntsville, another official told Fox News.
Another official added that some of the analysis pointed to long-term gains for Air Force families in Alabama, including schooling and other areas of child development.
It could be up to six years before U.S. Space Command finds a new home due to the environmental impact study that needs to be launched, the Air Force says.
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