Bipartisan group of Colorado leaders urge Biden to keep Space Command in Colorado

Colorado leaders in both political parties are continuing their push to keep the U.S. Space Command in Colorado, sending another letter this week to President Joe Biden. 

The letter is signed by Gov. Jared Polis, both of Colorado’s U.S. senators, seven of Colorado’s eight U.S. representatives, and leadership from both parties in the Colorado General Assembly. The group of Coloradans encouraged Biden to keep Space Command in Colorado because the state already houses the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, the U.S. Space Force Space Operations Command and the majority of operational Space Force units.

“Colorado Springs provides the existing infrastructure and the secure and redundant communications platforms necessary to successfully host this vital mission without committing restrictive additional funds,” the letter reads. “The financial cost of attempting to rebuild what Colorado has spent decades developing will require significant taxpayer dollars.”

In the final days of his administration in January 2021, former President Donald Trump ordered Space Command to be moved from Colorado to Alabama, a decision he later said he made “single-handedly” and which has been widely criticized as politically motivated.

The latest letter from Colorado officials cites two 2022 reports from the Department of Defense Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office that identified Colorado Springs as “the preferred location based on the best military judgement of our nation’s most senior national security space leaders.” The Colorado leaders said Peterson Space Force Base has thrived for the past two years showing its continued ability to defend national security in space amid a changing “threat landscape.”

“We face an immediate and existential threat in the space domain,” the letter reads. “We cannot allow a flawed and costly political decision to threaten our national security and military readiness.”

Colorado has the largest private aerospace economy per capita in the nation, according to the letter, which argues that Space Command would face “immense challenges” recruiting and retaining the workforce currently in Colorado to another location.