Space Command is a combatant command established in 2019 that employs about 1,700 people from across the military services to provide deterrence in space and if necessary to defend U.S. space assets.

It is separate from Space Force, the newest military branch.

Sept. 1, 1982

Air Force Space Command is formed in Colorado Springs to oversee the service’s missions in orbit.

Sept. 23, 1985

U.S. Space Command is formed in Colorado Springs to oversee all military operations in space.

Trump: Colorado’s mail-in voting system ‘a big factor’ in decision to move Space Command to Alabama

Sept. 26, 1985

Falcon Air Force Base opens on the plains east of Colorado Springs. It is the military’s first based dedicated to controlling satellites.

Aug. 2, 1990

Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, kicking off what would become the Persian Gulf War. It’s the first war that saw American troops rely on satellites for communication, navigation and reconnaissance, services provided by airmen in Colorado Springs.

Oct. 1, 2002

U.S. Space Command is shuttered as part of post Cold War downsizing at the Pentagon. While oversight of space missions is passed to U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, Neb., few troops actually leave Colorado Springs, since most of the work stays with Air Force Space Command here.

Aug. 13, 2018

Congress approves a measure reestablishing U.S. Space Command, kicking off a process to determine where it will be housed.

Dec. 20, 2019

The Space Force is founded.

Not so fast? Colorado Attorney General promises legal action if Trump moves Space Command

May 15, 2020

Colorado Springs is named the provisional home for Space Command, a title that will keep the command here through 2026.

Nov. 19, 2020

Colorado Springs is named a finalist to permanently house U.S. Space Command.

Jan. 13, 2021

Just seven days before President Donald Trump left office under protest, the Air Force announced that Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville, Alabama, was the preferred location for the headquarters, pending an environmental assessment, with a final decision set for the spring of 2023.

May 2022

A formal review from the Department of Defense Inspector General found that the selection of Redstone Arsenal as the permanent site was reasonable and justified. 

July 31, 2023

The Air Force decided that U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters will remain in Colorado Springs instead of moving to Huntsville, Ala. The long-awaited decision capped more than two years of wrangling by officials from both states after former President Donald Trump announced in the final days of his administration that the command’s headquarters would move to Alabama.

Mayor Mobolade responds to Trump’s move of Space Command to Alabama

Sept. 2, 2025

President Donald Trump announced that Space Command will move from Colorado Springs to Alabama, citing Colorado’s mail-in elections as playing a role in the decision.