A permanent home at Redstone: Gen. Whiting shares Space Command’s headquarters timeline

If Huntsville is shooting for the moon, the city will reach its aim in the next few years.  In 2028, NASA is slated to return to the celestial body, with help from the space agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center here in the Rocket City. 

By the end of the same calendar year, U.S. Space Command at Redstone Arsenal will see an influx of new employees, according to U.S. Space Command commander Gen. Stephen Whiting.

At a press update at the Roundhouse in downtown Huntsville on Veterans Day, Whiting shared details of Space Command’s move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville.

Whiting will publicly announce specific personnel targets for 2027 in the coming weeks but said the city should expect hundreds more to relocate to Huntsville over the next couple of years. 

“We’re on a path to having 900 people here in 2028, and then we expect to have our full headquarters here when the permanent facility is complete at the end of 2031 and into 2032,” Whiting said.

Whiting said Space Command achieved its goal of relocating over 200 personnel to Redstone Arsenal about a month and a half ahead of schedule, with that number originally targeted for the end of 2026. 

According to Whiting, all 200 current personnel in Huntsville are permanently based in Huntsville, including active-duty military, government civilians, and contractors.

The new headquarters will accommodate 1,800 people, bringing together operations previously spread across four Colorado Springs facilities. Groundbreaking is expected in 2027.

“When that facility starts to get built, that’s going to be really exciting because that’s a real opportunity for the U.S. Space Corps, not only to join this wonderful community, but to get that permanent headquarters we’ve never had, which will just enable us to do our mission even better,” Whiting said.

Whiting said core missions will include: protecting and defending American interests in space, military planning for space contingencies, executing command and control of joint forces (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Space Force), and intelligence missions monitoring adversaries’ progress in space. 

As U.S. Space Command’s presence grows in the Huntsville area, local communities will see military families increasingly integrated into daily life. 

“I think more and more here in the local area, the citizens of Huntsville, Madison, Madison County can expect to see neighbors now working for U.S. Space Command,” Whiting said. 

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Madison Mayor Ranae Bartlett, and Madison County Commission Chairman Rex Vaughn gathered beside Whiting to offer words of support. 

“We’re going to work with you in every which way to make sure that your success is the nation’s success,” Battle said. 

Whiting also discussed Golden Dome, an initiative intended to defend the United States against threats including hypersonic weapons.

“This community is an important part of the solutions that’ll be developed for Golden Dome,” Whiting said. 

U.S. Space Command’s role includes space-based tracking and space-based interceptors as outlined in the president’s executive order. 

“We’re excited to partner with the Missile Defense Agency here, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, as well as the Space Force program office that’s here that’s developing some of those capabilities,” Whiting said. 

Whiting said local leaders not only helped meet the recent personnel goal ahead of schedule but also fulfilled their commitments. One request was for officials to help his Colorado-based staff learn more about life in North Alabama as they considered relocating.

“When we did that several months ago, 18 people from this region traveled at their own expense to come to help our people in Colorado understand what the schools are like, what healthcare is like, what the neighborhoods are like,” Whiting said.

When reporters asked about the challenges of encouraging employees to relocate, Whiting noted that both Huntsville and Colorado Springs regularly appear on lists of the country’s best places to live.

“People love Colorado, and many of them haven’t lived here, and so they’re happy where they are. But we have been running an orientation course that’s been supported by all three of these leaders. Now we’re starting to get dozens upon dozens of families that are agreeing to move. We’re excited about that,” Whiting said. 

Whiting noted that some Space Command personnel will choose not to relocate but will still have opportunities to serve in Colorado.

He mentioned Space Command in Huntsville is actively hiring for various roles and encouraged interested parties to apply. 

“We would welcome anybody who thinks they can contribute to apply for those jobs because we want to continue to grow those numbers as quickly as we can,” Whiting said. 

The four-star general said he plans to retire in two months and that this will likely be his last official visit to Huntsville, but he plans to return to visit family in the region.

Upon Senate confirmation, Space Force Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr. will succeed Whiting as commander of U.S. Space Command.