Gov. Kay Ivey issues statement after Trump’s announcement on Space Command Headquarters coming to Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WRBL) — After President Trump announced on Tuesday that Redstone Arsenal will be home to the U.S. Space Command, Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement following the announcement.

Redstone Arsenal had long been considered as an option for the permanent headquarters of the command, which has been operating at its provisional headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, while the Air Force continued to review the potential move.

The command was established in August 2019, the Space Command website states.

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In the statement released on Tuesday following Trump’s announcement, Ivey said:

“Soon after President Trump directed the Department of Defense in 2018 to begin planning for this new military branch, Space Force, we began making our own preparations in Alabama for the city of Huntsville to compete to be home for Headquarters. As I have said all along, there is no better place to locate Space Command Headquarters than in Huntsville, Alabama. Today, the facts prevailed, and it is official: Space Command Headquarters is coming to Sweet Home Alabama.

The Redstone Arsenal region was ready to welcome Space Command Headquarters when I made the official pitch to the Defense secretary in June 2019, and it remains ready today to not only welcome Headquarters, but to welcome all of the military personnel and their families.

I commend Redstone and city of Huntsville leaders for their diligence in maintaining a mission-ready stance. I also applaud our entire Congressional delegation – Republicans and Democrats – especially Congressman Mike Rogers as chairman of the House Armed Service Committee. As our history shows, Alabama always stands ready to support the defense of our great nation, and Huntsville continues proving the Rocket City is truly ‘Space Central.”

U.S. Space Command is one of the 11 unified combatant commands within the Department of Defense. 

The command employs joint forces from the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force and “is responsible for delivering space capabilities to joint and combined forces and protecting and defending the space domain.”