As Space Command departs, Colorado says its space economy still growing
Colorado is losing U.S. Space Command to Alabama, but state and local leaders are increasingly pointing to a different set of numbers to argue that Colorado’s military space sector is still headed up.
Nearly a year after President Donald Trump ordered Space Command’s headquarters moved from Peterson Space Force Base to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, the relocation is becoming tangible. The command moved its first operational intelligence personnel to Alabama in April and expects about 200 personnel to make the move this year.
Space Command’s relocation is expected to shift roughly 1,400 positions from Colorado Springs to Alabama over several years.
U.S. Space Command is the military’s joint combatant command for space operations, while the Space Force is the service responsible for organizing, training and equipping space forces.
The Colorado response has been to stop fighting the basing decision and to put more emphasis on what is staying and what is coming next.
At the center of that pitch is the Space Force’s new Infrastructure Portfolio Acquisition Executive, which is being headquartered at Peterson.
Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) and Colorado Springs business leaders have promoted the office as a major acquisition win for the region, saying it grew out of an organization with a roughly $4 billion portfolio and gives Colorado Springs a bigger role in deciding how the service buys test, training and other infrastructure capabilities.
Crank has also highlighted a planned $250 million Space Force operations facility at Schriever Space Force Base and future Space Force personnel growth in the region.
The Space Force says the infrastructure PAE is projected to become a 300-person organization executing a $500 million annual budget.
State economic-development officials count more than 2,000 aerospace businesses employing more than 55,000 people directly, with another 184,000 jobs indirectly tied to the industry. Colorado says aerospace employment grew more than 26 percent over five years and that companies headquartered in the state captured more than $23 billion in federal contracts in a recent fiscal year.
Manufacturing is becoming an increasingly important piece of the story. Astro Digital selected Colorado for an expansion expected to create 141 jobs as it ramps up production of larger satellites. The company cited the state’s aerospace talent pool as a factor in its decision.
This month, Colorado-based Ursa Major opened a Longmont manufacturing facility for avionics and in-space propulsion systems with room for more than 125 employees, while freeing up manufacturing capacity at its Berthoud headquarters for engines, vehicle integration and solid rocket motors.
Safran Defense & Space has just completed a satellite thruster production line in Parker, with U.S.-made thrusters expected to begin shipping in 2027.
Colorado still hosts a large share of the Space Force’s uniformed personnel, major operational units, national security space contractors and a dense engineering workforce. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said in May that nearly half of uniformed Guardians are based in Colorado, calling the state a “vital anchor” for the service.
In short, Huntsville is gaining the permanent headquarters of a unified combatant command and the people, infrastructure and long-term spending that come with it. Meanwhile, Colorado is betting that Space Force operations, acquisition and an increasingly hardware heavy commercial and defense industrial base can keep its space economy growing.
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