Alabama lawmakers are tightening the screws in the ongoing battle over the relocation of the Space Force headquarters, a move that the current U.S. administration is looking to reverse due to the state’s severe anti-abortion law.
This week, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers, an Alabama rep, released his proposed bill that would not only restrict spending on the construction of the Space Force’s current facilities in Colorado but also limit funds in other areas related to the military branch. The bill could be part of ongoing attempts to force the Department of Defense and the Air Force to come to a decision regarding the permanent location of the Space Force headquarters.
President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly trying to reverse a decision to relocate the Space Command’s headquarters from Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama, largely due to concerns regarding the state’s strict anti-abortion law that was put into effect last summer. In December 2022, the Biden administration directed the U.S. Air Force to conduct a review of the relocation decision, which was made by former President Donald Trump during his time in office. For months now, the move to Alabama has been put on hold pending the review.
Alabama lawmakers have been outspoken against Biden’s attempts to delay the decision and Congressman Rogers’ proposed bill, known as the chairman’s mark, could be the latest attempt to add pressure on the White House.
The bill, which the committee will consider on June 21, would limit funds “to construct or modify facilities for temporary or permanent use by United States Space Command for headquarter operations until the Secretary of the Air Force delivers a report on the selection of a permanent location to the congressional defense committees,” it states.
The proposed bill would also limit the travel funds of the secretary of the Air Force until the delivery of the report.
The Space Command is still not fully operational but is set to reach full operations by the end of the year. Senior military leaders have expressed concern that relocating the Space Command’s headquarters to Alabama could disrupt its operations while staying in Colorado would allow it to reach full operational capacity sooner, SpaceNews reported in March.
Officials in Alabama, however, are keen on having the Space Command based in their state. “Let me repeat what everyone already knows: Alabama is the only rightful home for Space Command Headquarters,” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey wrote in a statement on May 30.
The bill includes other restrictions targeted at the Space Command. It would limit funds for the WGS-12 satellite, stating that the secretary of the Air Force may not issue a contract for the procurement of a WGS-12 satellite, part of a geostationary constellation by the U.S. Space Force, until it can certify that the requirements met by the satellite cannot be fulfilled by commercial providers.
Finally, the proposed bill would require the Air Force to increase competition for phase three of the National Security Space Launch Program to provide “opportunities for emerging launch providers while also assuring access to proven launch capabilities for low-risk tolerant payloads,” the draft states. The program is intended to provide payloads from the Department of Defense and other government bodies with access to space.
Although it’s easy to confuse them, the Space Command is different from the U.S. Space Force. It’s a combatant command of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct “operations in, from, and to space to deter conflict, and if necessary, defeat aggression, deliver space combat power for the joint/combined force, and defend U.S. vital interests with allies and partners,” according to the DOD.
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