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Congress

Colorado Delegation Wants To Keep USSPACECOM In Colorado

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
September 30, 2021
Filed under ,
Colorado Delegation Wants To Keep USSPACECOM In Colorado

Letter From Congress To USAF Secretary Over Moving U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) From Colorado To Alabama
“We write to request that you conduct an urgent and thorough review of the Trump Administration’s decision to move U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama. This move undermines our ability to respond to the threats in space and is disruptive to the current mission. Additionally, significant evidence exists that the former president’s political considerations influenced the final decision to relocate USSPACECOM to Redstone Arsenal. As such, we urge you to formally suspend any actions to relocate the USSPACECOM headquarters until the Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have completed their respective investigations into the basing decision and you complete your review.”
Keith’s note: When the Trump Administration summarily announced the move of USSPACECOM from Colorado to Alabama the political motives were blatantly obvious. Trump was trying to appease Sen. Shelby and pump up the 2020 vote in Alabama. There is no mystery here. USSPACECOM is perfectly placed in Colorado for some rather fundamental reasons – reasons that do not require a military background to understand. Moving it to Alabama is pointless and counterproductive – especially if it is done as the result of a prior Administration’s flawed decision making process. Oh yes, there’s at least one diehard Trump supporter on this letter. Since this effort to move USSPACECOM to Alabama has not gone very far there should be little to reverse.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

11 responses to “Colorado Delegation Wants To Keep USSPACECOM In Colorado”

  1. james w barnard says:
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    The in-place infrastructure, and local economic impact that would result from moving from Colorado Springs to Huntsville are definitely reasons to NOT make the move. Let’s hope that, partisan politics aside, reason will prevail and such a move be cancelled!

  2. Homer Hickam says:
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    To take mild exception, Mr. Trump had no need to shore up the Alabama vote or worry about Sen. Shelby. Likely he didn’t even know about the move although my guess is Mr. Pence, a space buff who visited Space Camp to announce Artemis and was thoroughly impressed by the area, surely did. Redstone Arsenal is very attractive to all the commands for a variety of reasons. Even the FBI is moving there (here, actually, since I live here). The infrastructure, utilities, security, recreational, and living conditions (cost of living and just being a young, family-oriented cosmopolitan town) available in the Huntsville area is unsurpassed. If the Space Command didn’t come here, it would hardly be a blip on the economic needle but still would be very nice and we’d welcome them with open arms.

    • tutiger87 says:
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      How much money will it cost to move all of that infrastructure?

      • Brian says:
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        Future-proofing might be a factor. Peterson is a rather small base. How much room for expansion does it have?

        • David Fowler says:
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          It’s already hosting USSPACECOM, and hosted the previous incarnation from 1985-2002. Schriever, though disliked, has capacity to use for it as well.

      • Homer Hickam says:
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        Not much. Just about everything is probably already in place. There is so much infrastructure already on Redstone, they’d probably just need to plug in their computers.

    • David Fowler says:
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      “Quid pro quo.”

      • Homer Hickam says:
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        I doubt it. If the Trump administration was going to cozy up to anybody, it would have been Colorado voters. Alabama’s electoral votes were already theirs and Huntsville doesn’t really need another command. It’s just able to do the job if tasked.

  3. Bob Mahoney says:
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    Somewhere along the way a contingent of space station engineers (I think) were forced to move from Huntsville to Houston. They were not happy about the forced move, and one part of the pot sweetening for them was reserved parking…taking away yet more spots in the parking lot closest to the mission simulators wherein the astronaut office had many reserved spots (and, btw, closest to my department’s offices).

    Funny thing, though. After I had quit and moved away, I eventually came to appreciate that all those long walks to & from the further parking lot across the street—past an (estimated over my time there) 135,000 EMPTY reserved parking spaces in that hot humid (and oft-rain-drenched) air—were excellent exercise.

  4. David Fowler says:
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    There is no operational argument against Colorado that makes sense.

    The only arguments against are the high cost of living, and shortage of affordable housing.

  5. Daniel Woodard says:
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    Of course Florida was also hoping to get Space Command.