‘We are ready’: Tuberville says Space Command decision coming soon after talks with the president

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — After years of back and forth, Sen. Tommy Tuberville said he believes a decision on the future home of U.S. Space Command will be made soon.

The senator told reporters on Thursday that he has had conversations with President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about the decision this week.

Tuberville said the state has coordinated with leadership in Madison County, putting adequate plans in place to host Space Command. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey reaffirmed her support for bringing the command to the state in a post on X Wednesday.

“Alabama is the rightful home of Space Command Headquarters,” said Ivey. “We are ready for this to be made official.”

While there is no official timeline on when the announcement will be made, Tuberville said he “feels good” about the coming decision.

“They are ready,” Tuberville said. “We are ready to seal the deal once and for all.”

He said he believes developing the infrastructure Space Command will need in the future will ultimately be cheaper on Redstone Arsenal than it will be at its current location on Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

“We’ve got to do it the right way,” Tuberville said. “We don’t want something to fall through that’s not carried through the proper stages, and when it’s done, we want it to be done. We don’t need any more reviews, anything like that.”

In 2021, Huntsville was named as a finalist for Space Command’s location. In 2022, the Department of Defense named Redstone Arsenal as the preferred permanent location for the headquarters and found that the evaluation process had been done in a reasonable manner.

Then, in 2023, former President Joe Biden decided to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs, where it had been temporarily based pending a final decision. According to AP, officials said the president was convinced by then Space Command Head General James Dickinson, who argued the move would negatively affect military readiness, a view in contrast to Air Force leadership at the time.

Biden’s decision led to calls for investigations into it from Alabama lawmakers, including Congressmen Mike Rogers and Dale Strong and Senators Tuberville and Katie Britt.

Since Trump took office again in January, those same Alabama lawmakers have said the president supports moving Space Command to Redstone Arsenal.