An illustration released previously by the Air Force shows one example of what the new Space Command Headquarters in Huntsville could look like.
(Editor’s note: This story, originally published March 25, 2026, was updated following the full Senate Armed Services Committee briefing held the next day. The additional comments are posted below.)
By Troy Turner
United States Space Command is tapping some of the military’s most technologically advanced entities and resources in the building of its new headquarters in Huntsville, as the command continues a phased transition from its temporary Colorado site while maintaining its daily duties critical to modern warfare.
Its commander, Gen. Stephen Whiting, recently updated the House Armed Services Committee subcommittee on strategic forces during a briefing in Washington, D.C., where he also provided insight into Space Command’s efforts to retain and/or build the qualified staffing it requires, including both civilian and military personnel.
Space Command is operating on a three- to six-year timeframe to complete the most vital portions of its move, with offices already open and almost two dozen staffers working onsite near where its headquarters will be located on Redstone Arsenal.
Seeking high-tech security
“From the outset, we are prioritizing resilient, secure network architecture and infrastructure capable of supporting global command and control operations,” Whiting said.
“To support this effort, we have partnered with Naval Information Warfare Center-Pacific to leverage their expertise in command, control, communications, computers and information technology development,” he said.
The center, located in San Diego, states that its mission “provides development, basic and applied science, test and evaluation, systems engineering and integration, installation, and support of fielded Information Warfare systems from seabed to space.”
NIWC-Pacific employs a highly educated, diverse, multidisciplinary workforce of more than 5,200 computer scientists, electrical engineers, cyber engineers, AI/ML scientists, technical specialists, contract managers and more, who hold more than 200 Ph.D./J.D. degrees, and approximately 1,500 master’s degrees.
Its lab is ranked as a top generator of patents and license agreements, and its workforce includes the largest number of active-duty military personnel stationed at any naval laboratory or warfare center.
Approximately 32 percent of its workforce is made up of active duty, reservists and veterans.
“This unique arrangement combines the fleet and operational expertise of the warfighter with the skills of the Center’s research staff to tackle real-world problems facing the U.S. today and, in the future,” its materials say.
Progress on all levels
NIWC-Pacific is but one of the agencies, civilian contractors and all levels of government providing support that SPACECOM is depending upon to build its highly secure headquarters complex, as various other needs to be addressed include provisions of infrastructure such as a dependable energy supply.
Redstone Arsenal receives its primary energy, including electricity and natural gas, through a partnership with Huntsville Utilities, and it is in partnership with other energy agencies such as the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Alabama’s entire congressional delegation joined forces in a bipartisan letter sent last November to Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll with a pitch for Redstone to host the Army’s next-generation nuclear power Janus Program.
Janus Program/Army
The Army announced it is looking for pilot sites after it selected nine installations for consideration in which to locate microreactor power plants, with Redstone on the list.
The program, in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit, will build commercial microreactors through a milestone-based contracting model “to accelerate delivery of advanced energy solutions to the warfighters.”
SPACECOM also works with the space assets, warfighters and leadership from every branch of the U.S. military and must integrate operations across that spectrum.
The command is “working closely with the military services and supporting agencies to program and deliver their respective mission systems and networks to Redstone Arsenal,” Whiting said. “Once complete, the permanent Command and Control (C2) Facility will provide a modern, warfighting platform.”
Meanwhile, to guarantee uninterrupted command and control throughout the transition period, SPACECOM “will phase the relocation of personnel and missions to Redstone Arsenal and operate from interim facilities while a dedicated, purpose-built warfighting platform, designed to meet the demands of USSPACECOM’s mission needs, is constructed,” he said.
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle recently told AlaDefense.com that progress already can be seen, with much of the primary work already in place and awaiting next steps of construction.
Gen. Stephen Whiting and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle (Photo/War Department)
“I think the initial planning steps are all being done in order of what has to happen,” Battle said. “We’re talking about infrastructure, getting infrastructure to the site, and having full capacity on water, sewer, gas, electricity; and I think everything is falling into place very quickly.
“So, we’re going to move along as quickly as we can,” he said. “Speed is a necessity out of this so that we can get them into a permanent headquarters as quickly as possible.”
Initial construction specs
Martin Traylor, who serves as the Army’s deputy garrison commander, a de facto city manager-type position for Redstone Arsenal, shared last September additional details of the planned two-phase approach for construction.
The temporary operations facility – a 450,000-square-foot campus with three 150,000-square-foot – will be used in the secure parcel of Redstone Gateway by the Enhanced Use Lease or EUL developer, Corporate Office Properties and Trust, according to Traylor. The time period for design, construction and occupancy is 18-24 months.
The 427,000-square-foot permanent operations facility to house all Space Command personnel will be a military construction project to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“A 64-acre site of prime developable land is identified for this facility,” and it’s centrally located on the arsenal with multiple arteries leading to and from installation access control points, Traylor said. The environmental assessment is complete, and all utility services are already located at or near the site.
“That command can theoretically be operational here very, very quickly and under the three-year timeline easily at Redstone,” Traylor said. “We’re the Army. We’re going to adjust to whatever we need to do. If they told me to execute tonight, we would absolutely execute that mission tonight.”
Personnel Impacts
“Maintaining operational readiness throughout the headquarters transition is paramount,” Whiting said. “Our people are central to mission success, and we are taking deliberate steps to keep the talent and experience of our civilian workforce.
“While our interim facilities are under renovation and a new Command and Control Facility is under construction, in order to preserve mission continuity in Colorado we have offered retention incentives for the civilian workforce to maintain operational readiness.”
Gen. Stephen Whiting
During a symposium in February, Whiting told reporters “We are trying to do everything we can to incentivize our workforce… I’ve said to our civilian workforce, I want to make this decision as difficult as it can be for them because we’re putting our money where our mouth is that we need their expertise to sustain our mission.”
As functions move to Redstone Arsenal, “we will cover the cost of moving and offer relocation incentives encouraging employees to remain with the command in Huntsville for years to come,” he told the congressional subcommittee members last week.
“Additionally, we have begun to work with the Military Services in filling our military positions in the next assignment cycle as we rebalance the workforce between these two locations,” Whiting said. “Our approach remains focused on keeping as much mission-critical talent as possible to ensure USSPACECOM remains fully ready, capable, and lethal throughout the transition.”
An estimated 1,400 to 1,700 civilian and military personnel are expected when the new facility becomes fully operational, and officials expect the civilian positions to be filled with a mix of local hires in Alabama, and those moving from Colorado.
Senate Armed Services Committee
The Senate Armed Services Committee met with Whiting on Thursday (March 26, 2026), in which the following exchange of information was shared between the general and Alabama’s Sen. Tommy Tuberville:
TUBERVILLE: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [Good] morning.
General Whiting, just a couple updates, a move from Space Command, securing a new military construction agent today, March 26th is the deadline. Do we have any update on that?”
WHITING: “Senator, thank you for the question. Our move to Huntsville is moving forward. And we are right now in final discussions with elements of the United States Air Force, and the Army Corps of Engineers [to] pull together what the team of that construction agent will look like. I believe the Secretary of the Air Force, Secretary Meink, and I will memorialize that decision in the very near future. So, I’m very happy that we’re able to take advantage of the MILCON reform language that the Committee inserted into the last National Defense Authorization Act, which is allowing us to build our new headquarters in a different way than we would have last year without that language.”
TUBERVILLE: “[What about the] existing facilities? What are you thinking about that? Or are you thinking of new facilities? Any update on that?”
WHITING: “Yes, Senator. As we’re building that new headquarters, that will take a few years. We are modifying the existing facilities on Redstone Arsenal. And in fact, next month in April, we will do our first ribbon cutting on a top secret SCIF that’ll seat over 80 people, and then we will start moving personnel there to begin work at that level. So, I’m happy at the progress that we’re making and that progress will continue over the next couple of years as we work to get a significant portion of our staff there even while the permanent headquarters is being built.”
TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. What’s the timeline on that? My understanding was three to seven years. Is that correct?”
WHITING: “For the permanent headquarters, Senator? I would expect right now that that facility will break ground next year and will come online likely in 2031. And then there’ll be probably a year’s worth of time that we’re moving people into that facility. But that’s the timeline we’re currently looking at.”
TUBERVILLE: “Personnel transition. Any update on that present, future?”
WHITING: “Yes, Senator. So, we have a small office that we’ve stood up there—about 20 people right now. And then by the end of this year, we are targeting that number to be closer to 200 people that will be working from Redstone, from our headquarters. Of course, that will be paced with the delivery of interim facilities that are appropriate to the security classification level we need, and that we have all of the appropriate IT networks. We are offering relocation incentives for our workforce in Colorado to consider moving to Alabama.
We also are offering retention incentives because I need my workforce to stay with me in Colorado until their function is ready to move. And so those are some of the updates that we have as we’re working the movement of personnel, Senator.”
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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