COLORADO SEEN AS HAVING ADVANTAGE IN UPCOMING SPACE COMMAND HEADQUARTERS DECISION

A decision is expected to be announced by the U.S. Air Force later this year or in early 2021 regarding the establishment of a permanent headquarters for the U.S. Space Command.

Analysts believe that the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, which is currently serving as the Command’s temporary headquarters, has the leg up in the competition to secure the facility.

In early March, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said she was inviting “all who think they have a good shot at it, to come and represent their communities for that basing.”

According to reports, state officials in Alabama, Florida, and California also plan to lobby for what could be the $1 billion construction of the headquarters.

Last spring the Air Force released a list of bases being considered for the facility that included Peterson as well as the Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado; the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station on the Front Range of Colorado; and the Schriever Air Force Base near Colorado Springs.

Additionally included on that list were the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama; and the Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California.

Earlier this year the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation launched a $350,000 state-wide media campaign designed to generate public support for Peterson to secure the permanent Command headquarters.
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The U.S. Space Command was officially established last summer as the military’s 11th unified combatant command.

​By Garry Boulard

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