In what could be called a “Space Command kumbaya,” elected and business leaders of Colorado Springs and Huntsville came together Monday to celebrate a new period of cooperation ending years of rancor and even litigation.

Highlighting a slate of meetings and discussions at the Davidson Technologies headquarters in Redstone Gateway was Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, who was a guest and keynote speaker.

Over the past year he has led a relocation of the command’s headquarters. With family in Madison County and Colorado Springs, Whiting is uniquely suited to reinforce the commonalities between the two communities and celebrate their shared commitment to national defense.

On Monday, Whiting cited the movie classic “Enemy Mine” and showed the movie trailer as he described the new relationship between the cities who fought over relocating the command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville.

“Unexpected allies are the best allies,” he said. “America’s Olympic City and America’s Rocket City are both militarily friendly and are top 10 in this list and that list.

Gen. Stephen Whiting (Photo courtesy of Huntsville/Madison County Chamber)

“They have extended incredible support to the men and women of U.S. Space Command through our ongoing headquarters relocation, helping ensure continued mission continuity and focus as we establish a footprint in Huntsville.”

Whiting said the command is on track to complete its move to Redstone Arsenal by the end of 2032; there are 167 personnel at Redstone with a goal of 200 at the end of this year.

“We’re moving at full speed to make Redstone Arsenal the home of Space Command headquarters,” he said.

The discussions focused on how the missile defense expertise centered in Huntsville and the operational capabilities concentrated in Colorado Springs can support the deployment of next-generation missile warning, tracking, command-and-control, and interceptor systems.

“The success of Golden Dome will ultimately be measured by the nation’s ability to field new capabilities at speed and scale,” said Chip Cherry, president and CEO of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber. “With Huntsville’s and Colorado Springs’ central role in space and missile defense operations, our two regions are uniquely positioned to help support the next generation

of homeland defense systems.

“We are in a new period of cooperation. We’re all going to win together.”

As Golden Dome moves toward demonstration and deployment, Huntsville and Colorado Springs are expected to play significant roles in supporting the defense shield.

Huntsville is home to the U.S. Army Materiel Command, Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, the Space Development Agency’s South Satellite Control Center, Portfolio Executive Fires and other defense organizations as well as NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

Colorado Springs is home to the U.S. Space Force’s Combat Forces Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, U.S. Air Force Academy, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, entities to contribute to missile warning, tracking and command-and-control functions.

Together, the two regions host key military, technical and industrial capabilities relevant to the development of a layered homeland missile defense shield, the officials said

“The challenges facing our nation are too challenging for one agency or community to work alone,” said Mayor Tommy Battle. “We’re working on a great partnership … We’re looking forward to what we can accomplish together.”

Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade said while there is an air of cooperation, the two cities will still compete for businesses and government programs.

But they share a common goal.

“We can compete without contempt,” he said. “Competition and collaboration are not mutually exclusive.

“The mission of defending America must come first. America needs us both.”

In April, Battle was part of a Huntsville-area contingent at the annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Mobolade reflected on meeting with Battle during a reception and how it reinforced the cooperation over competition between the cities.

“He told me ‘Mayor, don’t worry, we’re going to take care of your people’,” Mobolade said. “Those words meant more to me …

“At that moment, we weren’t two mayors; we were two Americans. That was civility.”

Including Davidson Technologies, more than 70 aerospace and defense companies maintain operations in Colorado Springs and Huntsville, reflecting the increasingly integrated defense-industrial base supporting U.S. missile defense efforts.

Companies including Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, have secured positions under SHIELD, one of the contracting vehicles supporting development of the Golden Dome missile defense architecture.

The Colorado Springs-Huntsville mission highlights the expanding link between space operations, missile defense and advanced defense manufacturing as the United States strengthens its homeland defense architecture.

While each region brings unique strengths, leaders involved in the effort stress that collaboration across the defense enterprise is essential to addressing emerging national security challenges and deploying next-generation missile defense systems.

“We are grateful for the novel formation of this twin-city partnership and optimistic that it will continue serving our nation’s critical defense interests as space becomes an increasingly contested domain,” Whiting said. “New York may be the city that never sleeps; your cities make sure America sleeps safely.”