President Donald Trump has opted to relocate U.S. Space Command's headquarters from Colorado to Alabama in a move that will have deep implications for the future of the nation's military operations beyond Earth.

The move, which Trump announced Sept. 2, is both a reversal of a Biden-era decision to make Colorado Springs, Colorado, the permanent home to Space Command, and a revival of his own first-term plan to award the headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama. It's also the latest development in a years-long political tussle over whether the military's newest program should be based in a blue or red state.

Huntsville, the largest city in Alabama, is now poised to become a central location in operations to expand U.S. military might to the cosmos to compete with rivals like Russia and China.

Here's everything to know about Trump's decision on Space Command's headquarters, as well as how leaders in Alabama and Colorado are reacting.

Donald Trump announces relocation of Space Command headquarters

Trump announced Tuesday, Sept. 2, during a White House press conference that U.S. Space Command ‒ one of the Defense Department's 11 combatant commands – will relocate from Colorado Springs to Huntsville.

What is the U.S. Space Command?

U.S. Space Command is responsible for military operations beyond Earth's atmosphere, or about 62 miles up and higher – the internationally recognized boundary of space known as the Kármán Line. That includes defending U.S. satellites from potential threats.

More specifically, Space Command conducts operations like enabling satellite-based navigation and troop communication, and providing warning of missile launches.

Th command, which is responsible for conducting military operations, is separate from the U.S. Space Force – a service branch of the military, like the Army or Navy, according to the Department of Defense.

In a statement on social media site X, Space Command said it "stands ready to carry out the direction of the President following today's announcement."

When was Space Command founded?

Space Command was originally created in 1985 to provide joint command and control for all military forces in outer space before it was merged into U.S. Strategic Command in 2002.

Space Command was then established once again in 2019 under the first Trump administration with a new focus on potential space-based combat.

Where in Alabama is Space Command moving to?

Trump announced he is moving the Space Command's headquarters to the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The facility dates to World War II and is also the site of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

Why was Space Command headquartered in Colorado?

The Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs has been the home of Space Command since 2019, first on an interim basis.

Trump's decision to move the headquarters to Huntsville reverses a move made under former President Joe Biden's administration. Biden had selected Colorado Springs in 2023 as the permanent home for Space Command after some proponents in the military had suggested that relocating the base could jeopardize military readiness in the years it would take for it to once again become fully operational.

Why did Trump move Space Command to Huntsville?

Trump's move aligns with the Air Force’s original preference to base the command in Huntsville.

Huntsville officials have long lobbied for the Space Command headquarters.

The city is a major hub for defense contractors and aerospace companies, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command is also located in Huntsville, which is nicknamed "Rocket City" because of its role in building the first rockets that helped the United States reach the moon.

The move benefits a state that overwhelmingly supported Trump's three Republican presidential bids, at the expense of one that opposed them.

Trump denied that politics played into his decision while still citing the state's use of mail-in voting as a "big factor."

"The problem I had with Colorado, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting," Trump said. "So they have automatically crooked elections."

Alabama officials praise decision

Alabama officials have been ecstatic about the impending relocation, which the Trump administration claims brings with it the potential for tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement the state has been making preparations for Huntsville to ultimately be home to Space Command since Trump revived the military branch in 2019.

"As our history shows, Alabama always stands ready to support the defense of our great nation, and Huntsville continues proving the Rocket City is truly ‘Space Central,'” Ivey said in the statement.

Trump ally Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, said in a statement the president is "doing the right thing.”

"The Biden Administration chose politics over national security," Tuberville said in a statement. "We couldn’t be more excited to immediately welcome SPACECOM to the Rocket City.”

Colorado officials push back

Colorado leaders, meanwhile, have condemned the move as a waste of taxpayer money that will put national security at risk.

The Colorado congressional delegation, which counts Republican Trump ally Rep. Lauren Boebert among them, said in a statement that moving Space Command headquarters out of the state "weakens our national security at the worst possible time."

"Moving Space Command sets our space defense apparatus back years, wastes billions of taxpayer dollars, and hands the advantage to the converging threats of China, Russia and North Korea," the lawmakers continued.

Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade lamented the move in a post on X as "deeply disappointing, not only for our city, but for our nation’s security and taxpayers."

In a joint statement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera criticized the move as one that will also "uproot military families."

Contributing: Reuters

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Trump moving Space Command headquarters to Alabama? Inside the decision

Reporting by Eric Lagatta and Zac Anderson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect