President Donald Trump officially launched the U.S. Space Command in a press event on the White House lawn August 29. But he did not name a permanent headquarters for the new military unit.
Colorado Springs’s Peterson Air Force Base, home to the current Air Force Space Command, has been designated the initial, temporary headquarters city, but the long-anticipated selection of the permanent headquarters was left up in the air.
Huntsville is one of three cities in the final running to be the headquarters. It has long been the headquarters for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, based at Redstone Arsenal, and also is home to key departments of the Washington, D.C.-based Missile Defense Agency.
The Commanding General of the Space and Missile Defense Command, Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, is likely to be named the head of the newly created Space Command, according to an Aug. 6 report by Defense News. He has been at the Huntsville post since January 2017.
During an August 6 speech at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, “Dickinson led with a hefty dose of the Army’s role in space and how that mission is expanding,” reported Defense News.
Colorado had been considered by many the front-runner for the permanent home to the Space Command. But many had also expected a final headquarters selection to come with the president’s August 29 announcement.
