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Space will be “the tip of the spear” in America’s next conflict with China or Russia, and delays in building a secure headquarters for U.S. Space Command are putting the nation at risk, House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers told Fox News Digital.
The Alabama Republican said the years-long fight over whether to base the command in Colorado or Alabama has cost the military precious time while adversaries expand their space arsenals. He argued Huntsville — which topped two nationwide competitions — offers a cheaper site and a more secure facility for the 1,700 personnel overseeing America’s space warfighting mission.
“We fight and win wars based on the communications and the capabilities that we have in space,” Rogers said. “We don’t want to be at a disadvantage when it comes to adversaries like China.”
Rogers praised Donald Trump’s Tuesday move to designate Huntsville as the permanent headquarters, saying the decision aligned with the competitions and Pentagon reviews. He said Trump “went back to the fair objective results and took the politics out of it and our country’s national security is going to be better off because of it.”
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Rep. Dale Strong, R-Ala., who represents Huntsville, echoed that view and pointed to the selection process he watched up close. “It’s a perfect match,” Strong said.
“You look at it, 21 categories were evaluated,” he said. Strong cited Redstone Arsenal’s secure footprint and local infrastructure and argued the process was run twice and backed by watchdog reviews.
Space Command was first established in 1985, folded into U.S. Strategic Command in 2002, and revived in 2019 as a separate command. It has operated temporarily from Colorado Springs while the Air Force evaluated permanent sites.
According to Rogers, both the original competition and a second review ranked Huntsville first. He argued President Biden later kept Space Command in Colorado “for purely political reasons,” over objections inside the Air Force. “The only political maneuver was made by President Biden who, arbitrarily over the objection of his Secretary of the Air Force, decided to leave it in Colorado Springs,” Rogers said. “It was pure politics. Alabama’s a red state, Colorado is a blue state.”
Strong said multiple Air Force secretaries recommended Huntsville and that “politics played a part” when the decision shifted. “When Joe Biden went and awarded it, and said, they’re doing it in Colorado… I do think that politics played a part in it there,” he said. “But again, it’s time to move forward. We’re ready to go vertical.”
Colorado leaders have argued that moving the headquarters risks disrupting operations.
Rogers argued that as it operates now, Space Command is not secure enough. “Four of the five buildings they’re in right now are off base and they’re in commercial space,” he said. “This is classified work. It needs to be inside the fence in a SCIF.”
Strong added that the temporary headquarters in Colorado is “nine and a half miles from the military base with zero force protection… it ought to be behind the wire.”
Space Command has operated out of Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs since its 2019 inception. Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., previously told Fox News Digital that Space Command HQ, nestled into Cheyenne Mountain, is already “one of the most secure facilities” in the country. Being in the middle of the U.S., he added, makes it harder for enemies to attack.
“From the standpoint of survivability, having that as an asset right there as well, is really important.”
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Lawmakers said the headquarters debate is about more than real estate. “The truth is as we get into future conflicts with major adversaries, space is going to be the tip of the spear,” Rogers said.
Strong put it bluntly: “Our next war will not be storming the beaches of Normandy. It will start in space. And we’ve got to neutralize those threats immediately when it happens.”
The command is responsible for military operations in space, including defending the nation’s satellites, and will play a major role in coordination for the Golden Dome missile defense project.
Chinese and Russian advancements left the U.S. open to vulnerabilities in space. As adversaries advance offensive space weapons, satellites that power everything from GPS to global communications come under threat. Rogers argued the United States has closed gaps since 2019, when Trump stood up Space Force.
“We have very adequate defensive capabilities now,” he said. “And we have offensive capabilities that we didn’t have at the time. So that our adversaries know that if they were to disturb our space assets, we can wipe all theirs out, so don’t.”
The Biden administration has said keeping the headquarters in Colorado avoided disruption as the command reached full capability, and Colorado officials — Democrats and Republicans — have argued the state’s existing aerospace ecosystem, proximity to NORAD, and workforce make it the logical location. Huntsville, however, is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and is a major hub for defense contractors.
Gov. Jared Polis has called the move “deeply disappointing,” and members of the state’s congressional delegation have warned a relocation could weaken readiness and unsettle military families.
Strong said he respects his Colorado colleagues but believes the debate has dragged on long enough. “Huntsville was the rightful winner, and I will defend them to my last breath,” he said.
Both lawmakers pointed to a Government Accountability Office report that found moving Space Command to Redstone would save $462 million.
At the same time, a Pentagon inspector general report confirmed that while the Air Force favored Huntsville based on cost, SPACECOM leadership warned that moving would involve readiness risks—not least because it could take up to four years to establish a secure facility in Alabama and numerous civilian staff could walk off the job.
Rogers and Strong argue Huntsville offers savings and deep bench strength. Strong pointed to Redstone’s “45,000 acres, behind the wire,” and to Huntsville’s talent pipeline. “We’re sitting here with the highest number of PhDs and engineers anywhere in the country,” he said. “You look at the University of Alabama in Huntsville… 80% of the graduates never leave that community because of the quality of life we have.”
“The cost to construct more economical in Alabama, the cost to maintain more economical in Alabama,” added Strong.
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