By Troy Turner
Huntsville, Alabama, is where the U.S. Air Force recommended for the permanent home of U.S. Space Command headquarters, and the latest report released today by the General Accounting Office reaffirms the validity of the service’s selection process, despite a political override that sent the initial headquarters to Colorado Springs and has since left the final decision in limbo.
Alabama’s Rep. Mike Rogers, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, has said in recent months that he expects President Donald Trump to move the permanent headquarters to Huntsville “any day now,” and Alabama leaders continue to advocate Huntsville as the deserving and most qualified location to host Space Command.
The GAO report released Thursday, while not making a specific recommendation for next action, cited a long list of reviews conducted to examine closer the selection process used by the Air Force in making its recommendation of Huntsville over Colorado Springs.
The report includes a thorough background in the tit-for-tat pull between Colorado and Alabama officials who have argued for their respective states as the best host site, while both accused politics of playing a role in preferential decision-making.
Included in the background is reference to expectations that, once the Air Force preference of Huntsville was made public, the then-Secretary of the Air Force and/or Secretary of Defense late in President Joe Biden’s term would announce Huntsville as the permanent headquarters for Space Command.
However, that announcement never came, and Biden eventually selected Colorado Springs for the command.
GAO’s key findings
Among the GAO report’s findings released May 29, 2025:
• Sensitivity analysis: The Air Force contracted a private firm to complete a sensitivity analysis using existing Air Force data from the prior, revised basing selection process that concluded in January 2021.
According to Air Force documentation, the sensitivity analysis consisted of two parts: (1) a quantitative analysis evaluating how changes to selected inputs, such as area cost factors and basic allowance for housing, affected estimated basing costs; and (2) a qualitative assessment of the effects that basing criteria—such as available qualified workforce, proximity to mutually supporting space entities, and facility and parking space—had on the overall ranking of the candidate locations.
The sensitivity analysis concluded that Huntsville, Alabama, would be the lowest-cost location, and that Huntsville and Colorado Springs, Colorado, ranked equally for available qualified workforce, the most impactful non-cost criterion.
The analysis further concluded that while Colorado Springs ranked highest for proximity to mutually supporting space entities, Huntsville ranked highest for facility and parking space.
• Transition analysis: The Air Force contracted the same private firm to complete a transition analysis assessing U.S. Space Command’s ability to maintain operations after moving to different candidate locations.
According to Air Force documentation, the transition analysis was conducted to address senior military leaders’ concerns about maintaining operational readiness and a civilian workforce during a transition to a permanent location, and to examine transition costs and potential mitigation measures across all six candidate locations.
The transition analysis concluded that moving to Huntsville would cost $426 million less than staying in Colorado Springs across a 15-year period.
The analysis further concluded that U.S. Space Command would achieve FOC (full operational command) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, earlier than any other candidate location, and although a move from Colorado Springs would disrupt the civilian workforce, mitigation measures were available to support a move away from that location.
Politics and analyses
“As of September 30, 2022, the Air Force had completed and submitted all requested reviews to then Secretary of the Air Force Kendall to inform his final decision on the permanent location of U.S. Space Command.
“Then Secretary of the Air Force Kendall told us that he believed the review was essentially complete at this time, but that he delayed announcing a decision as a matter of policy as he did not want to announce any basing decisions in the weeks before the 2022 midterm elections.
“The Secretary further stated in September 2023 testimony that the results of the analyses conducted during Phase One concluded that all six (initially considered) locations were reasonable alternatives, but Huntsville, Alabama had the lower costs, and remaining in Colorado Springs, Colorado posed the lowest operational risk.
“The analyses, according to Air Force officials, revalidated that Huntsville, Alabama, remained the Air Force’s preferred location for the headquarters of U.S. Space Command.
“According to Air Force documentation, the final decision from then Secretary of the Air Force Kendall was planned for November 2022. However, no decision was announced and Air Force documentation shows that in November 2022, a memorandum related to the basing selection process was exchanged between the Air Force and the White House.
“Around the same time, in mid-to-late November 2022, the Air Force briefed White House National Security Council staff. Subsequently, in December 2022, then Secretary of Defense Austin held a meeting to discuss a final decision on the location of U.S. Space Command headquarters; however, no final decision on the basing location came from it….
“From December 2022 through March 2023, the Air Force analyzed costs and long-term economic impacts associated with U.S. Space Command headquarters candidate locations and validated Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred location.”
Alabama leaders lobby Trump
The Department of Defense inspector general released a report in April 2025 that also found the Air Force evaluation process to be in order, to which Rogers released a statement saying the report confirms the Trump administration was correct in choosing Huntsville to house Space Command and that the IG report “reveals an astounding lack of transparency and accountability by the Biden Administration.”
“The fact is that the Air Force recommended SPACECOM HQ be built in Huntsville, that any disruption associated with that move could be mitigated, and that moving to Huntsville would save the taxpayer over $420 million,” Rogers said.
The 119th Congress began its first session on Jan. 3, and within days members from Alabama introduced resolutions in the House and Senate calling on President Trump in his return to office to “immediately proceed in establishing a permanent headquarters for United States Space Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.”
The resolutions were introduced on Jan. 13, the fourth anniversary of the Trump administration during his first term announcing Redstone as the site of choice for the headquarters, only to see President Biden in the interim redirect it to Colorado Springs.
Although the resolutions are primarily symbolic, the Alabama delegation continues to lobby for Trump to order the permanent Space Command headquarters be placed in Huntsville, while Colorado officials argue it should stay in Colorado Springs.
Rep. Dale Strong, who represents the Huntsville region, introduced the resolution in the House, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville did the same in the Senate, with Sen. Katie Britt in support.
Both resolutions, which mostly contain the same wording in the two chambers, were submitted to their respective Armed Services committees.
The entire GAO report released today can be found here.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected]. His bio can be found here.
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