As Space Command headquarters sets up shop in Alabama, local leaders highlighted the growth Colorado Springs can expect as the Space Force prepares for its budget to potentially double to $71 billion and its workforce to grow. 

Colorado is home to more than 50% of the Space Force’s workforce —guardians who run the GPS satellites, provide missile warning and missile tracking and enable satellite communications, among other tasks. If Congress approves the new spending, much of the new investment will be seen locally. 

“Colorado Springs is uniquely positioned to shape the next decade of defense innovation and national security in space,” said Seth Harvey, CEO of Bluestaq and the chairman of the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC’s board. Harvey was one of several leaders who spoke on Colorado Springs’ role in military space during the Space Symposium on Tuesday at The Broadmoor.  

Northern Command is the center of gravity for that defense and so Colorado Springs will serve a vital role as the nation refocuses on homeland security with the development of Golden Dome, a new missile-defense system, the leaders said. 

Businesses in Colorado Springs are suited to the work because so many of them are staffed by former military service members, who provide specialized insight, said Art Loureiro, director for space defense solutions for L3Harris Technologies and the chairman of the Colorado Aerospace and Defense Council. The service members help guide the work to ensure it meets commanders’ needs and that the new technology is not overly complicated. 

All the investment could drive more growth in the community that will need to be well managed, said retired Gen. John Hyten, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

Schriever Space Force Base was placed out on the prairie east of town, in part, for security, and the community needs to make sure development does not encroach on it, he said.

Amid the projections for a bright future, Gen. Stephen Whiting, who leads Space Command, highlighted the plans to leave, touting the command’s first purpose-built headquarters in Huntsville, Ala., on stage.

“We are bringing together the right team, a broad team, to get it right from the start,” he said.

President Donald Trump announced Space Command would move in September, triggering a lawsuit arguing he was punishing the state for mail-in voting. The lawsuit now alleges Trump has retaliated against the state on multiple fronts, including withholding disaster relief funding following flooding. 

Still, the military has pushed ahead with the move. 

Space Command expects eight staff members to start work in Huntsville this week in a space that the Missile and Space Intelligence Center had been renovating, Whiting said. Staff have been at work in Huntsville, but all have been focused on the move. These additions will be focused on the main mission.

The command expects 200 people to work there this year, he said, but not all will move there from Colorado Springs; some will be new hires. 

Uniformed staff have no choice, but civilians, who make up 60% of the command staff, could stay and find other jobs. 

The number of people who followed Space Command from Colorado Springs to Omaha for work in 2002 was low, Hyten said, noting four people moved. He doubted more than 50 civilians would move to Huntsville. 

To help retain civilians, Whiting has the authority to give them a 10% pay raise, he said. 

Those who choose to move to Huntsville will receive a 25% raise each year for four years, he said. 

“Our civilian workforce is key to us executing our mission,” he said. 

The full headquarters could be up and running in Alabama by 2031 or 2032, Whiting said.