Secretary of War Pete Hegseth unveils the U.S. Space Command sign alongside Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink and U.S. Space Force and U.S. Army leadership in Huntsville, Ala., on Dec. 12, 2025. (Alexander Kubitza/Defense Department)
WASHINGTON — A permanent headquarters for U.S. Space Command at Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal is expected to open in 2031, the head of the command said Thursday.
Gen. Stephen Whiting told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the timeline for the facility includes a groundbreaking next year, a completion date in five years and an additional year for moving in personnel.
President Donald Trump in September announced Space Command would move from its temporary home at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado to Alabama, undoing a decision by the Biden administration to keep the command permanently in Colorado.
The relocation, which Trump had initially pushed in his first term, is “moving forward,” Whiting said in testimony to the committee on Thursday.
Space Force Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, the commander of U.S. Space Command testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
About 20 people from the command are already working at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, with plans to grow that number to nearly 200 personnel by the end of the year, he said.
They will work out of upgraded temporary facilities while the permanent headquarters is being constructed.
One of those spaces will include a top secret-level Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, scheduled to open at the base next month. It will accommodate more than 80 people, Whiting said.
“I’m happy at the progress that we’re making, and that progress will continue over the next couple of years as we work to get a significant portion of our staff there, even while the permanent headquarters is being built,” he told senators.
The command is offering relocation bonuses to entice its personnel in Colorado to move to Alabama and is also offering retention incentives “because I need my workforce to stay with me in Colorado until their function is ready to move,” Whiting said.
