'Rocket City' Is the Right Choice for US Space Command HQ the US Air
January 27, 2021 Why Alabama’s ‘Rocket City’ is the right choice for U.S. Space Command HQ The U.S. Air Force’s decision on where to locate the headquarters of the U.S. Space Command has generated controversy, but it shouldn’t have. The Jan. 13 announcement was the culmination of a complex, time-consuming process as the Air Force selection team considered a wide range of key factors related to the Command’s mission, examining workforce availability, costs, the presence of Department of Defense assets, and much more. In the end, the Air Force made the right decision: Huntsville, Alabama. In its official statement, the Air Force explicitly stated that Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal was the best choice for Space Command. It said: “Huntsville compared favorably across more of these factors than any other community, providing a large, qualified workforce, quality schools, superior infrastructure capacity, and low initial and recurring costs. Additionally, Redstone Arsenal offered a facility to support the headquarters, at no cost, while the permanent facility is being constructed.” That is no surprise to me. Redstone Arsenal, the cradle of the nation’s rocket program, is a thriving, 38,000-acre federal campus, home to more than 70 military commands and government agencies. These include the Army Aviation and Missile Command, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency/Missile and Space Intelligence Center, Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center. Redstone Arsenal also houses the Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA’s largest installation and the beating heart of its propulsion research.
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