If there were any doubts the commander of the U.S. Space Command had misgivings about moving to Huntsville, he dispelled them Wednesday.

“This feels a little more like home every day,” Gen. Stephen Whiting said during the Space Command update at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium. “We’re moving full speed to make Redstone Arsenal our new home.”

It had been a long and tedious journey before the command finally landed at Redstone from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

The new headquarters facility is expected to be completed in 2031, with the complete move of all personnel by 2032. At least 1,400 civilian employees will be moved from Colorado to Redstone, with half expected to move to temporary facilities by 2028.

“We have 113 personnel here and are well on our way to the target of 200 by the end of the year,” said Whiting, who took command in 2024. “We expect to have the entire command fully staffed by 2032.”

While the command is planning for the future moves, Whiting said the nation’s adversaries aren’t relaxing. “Our adversaries are targeting our space assets more than ever.”

To that end, he said Space Command has three moral responsibilities:

We are obligated to provide space effects to the nation, Joint Force, and our allies and partners across all levels of conflict.
We must protect and defend our systems against evolving threats ensuring resilience.
We must safeguard our homeland, the Joint Force, our allies and partners from space-enabled attacks, preserving our strategic advantage and ensuring peace and stability.

“The second moral responsibility is getting tougher and tougher,” Whiting said. “Our satellites are at risk. The threats are as dizzying as they are diverse.”

But, while Iran – a medium military power – and China are making inroads against U.S. space dominance, Whiting is confident in the U.S. military thanks to its international, commercial and academic partners.

He cited Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who credited America’s structural edge in global competition over China, which relies mostly on its domestic population and ethnic ties, which can restrict outside creativity.

“China can draw on a talent pool of 1.3 billion people, but the United States can draw on a talent pool of 7 billion,” Lee said in 2013.

“We are the better team,” Whiting said. “This is our year of integration at U.S. Space Command.”

Whiting has repeatedly called for a shift from fixed spacecraft to maneuverable assets, asserting that satellites capable of moving in orbit are a necessity as China has demonstrated on-orbit logistics and sustainment.

“The speed at which China is moving is extraordinarily fast,” he said. “They’re building out their maneuver and sustainability on-orbit. They recently refueled two satellites on orbit.

“The necessity of maneuvering in space has intensified over the past year. A satellite which is locked in a predictable orbit is fighting from a fixed position, and it’s a target.”

Whiting said he is seeking innovation that gives us maneuverability, endurability, and survivability — because maneuver warfare demands rapid, focused, and unexpected actions that shatter the enemy’s cohesion.

In answering a question from the audience, he reached out to contractors and companies for a local contact.

“If you have great ideas, please see (Maj. Gen.) Terry (Grisham),” Whiting said of the transition team director who hails from nearby Ardmore.

Last month, the Space Command published The Space Warfighting Environment 2040 as a foundation for sustaining space superiority and enhancing Joint Force readiness and lethality as the operational domain continues to rapidly evolve and our competitors mobilize with intention.

“The United States remains the world’s foremost military space power … ,” Whiting said. “We will secure the enduring advantage needed to deter and, if necessary, defeat any adversary seeking to wage war in space, safeguarding the Homeland and protecting the Joint Force and our allies and partners.”