The aerospace industry has long been a shining star for Colorado’s economy — and now state leaders are worried about the effects of President Donald Trump’s decision to move Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.
Colorado boasts having the second-largest aerospace economy in the nation, heavily concentrated along the Front Range from El Paso County to the border of Wyoming.
After several years of back and forth between the two states, Trump announced on Tuesday he would reverse the Biden administration’s decision to keep Space Command in the Centennial State.
At the time, former President Joe Biden said he decided to leave Space Command at its temporary home of Colorado Springs as moving would stall the military’s readiness to growing threats in space.
Trump said his decision isn’t political, blaming his predecessor for making it “political” by not taking recommendations from military officials to move the command to Alabama.
He praised Alabama for voting for him by about “47 points” and said he had a problem with Colorado as the headquarters because of its mail-in voting system, claiming the state “automatically has crooked elections.”
The president said Alabama’s infrastructure around its space and defense hub would be better suited to grow America’s space defenses, especially his missile-defense project known as the “Golden Dome.”
The next question is: What businesses will do next?
While Alabama officials celebrate the major win for their local economy, Colorado officials said the region’s aerospace ecosystem has been snubbed.
“Our unparalleled Aerospace & Defense ecosystem has been vital to Space Command achieving Full Operational Capability and executing the mission,” said Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera. “This decision is deeply disappointing.”
Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation also released a joint statement saying they would do whatever they could to stop the move from happening. Moving the headquarters would hurt the military’s ability to respond to threats because the business environment that grew around it may not immediately move with it, said the Republican and Democrat policymakers.
“Space Command’s long-term presence in Colorado Springs has also created a large number of civilian businesses and workers on which the Command now relies,” the delegation said. “Those people will not simply move with the Command at the military’s whim. Many of them will leave the industry altogether, creating a disruption in the workforce that will take our national defense systems decades to recreate.”
Just like Huntsville, Colorado is home to the operations of major defense contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, L3Harris Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Boeing.
The Front Range also serves as the headquarters for local aerospace titans like Maxar, BAE Systems (formally Ball Corp.), Sierra Space and the United Launch Alliance. It’s also home to rising startups, such as Astroscale and Albedo Space.
Colorado’s aerospace industry is home to more than 2,000 companies, according to the Colorado Space Coalition, a subsidiary of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Last year, Colorado had a record year bringing in more than $38 billion in federal contracts.
“This impacts Colorado’s aerospace industry negatively because it removes the proximity to Space Command leadership that having Space Command in Colorado Springs provides,” said Parker White, director of the chamber’s Colorado Competitive Council.
Generals and commanders often have the final say on who wins a contract, he explained, and having that nearby presence to make your case is important to growing as a business.
While Colorado is home to huge aerospace companies, many of which also have operations in Alabama, White said the move would hurt the smaller, local contractors most.
“They’re the ones that can’t just pick up and move to Huntsville,” White said. “If Space Command leaves, those local Colorado aerospace and defense companies lose out on that opportunity to support the mission.”
Colorado attracts space companies more than any other industry
Aerospace, along with manufacturing and energy, is one of the largest drivers of job growth in the state.
Out of the companies looking to expand to Colorado, aerospace led last year in the number of companies seeking job growth tax incentive packages from the state and in the jobs it promised to create.
El Paso County is the home for more than 33% of expansion projects seeking to expand in the state, more than any other county, according to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade report for fiscal year 2024-2025.
While Colorado’s Front Range doesn’t have rocket launches like Florida, it works on about every other part of the space industry from manufacturing satellites, rockets and NASA instruments to operating mission control centers.
Colorado’s aerospace industry grew to attract companies both big and small because of its central location, closer elevation to the atmosphere and leading science universities and military bases.
“Our state will continue to lead the development of this critical industry as these companies innovate new technologies key to space communications, the commercialization of space, and national security,” Alissa Johnson, an OEDIT spokesperson said.
Companies benefit from a diverse aerospace system that is helping bring humans back to the moon, led to development of the James Webb Space Telescope and is home to half the nation’s Space Force, she added.
“All of those together are a draw for the aerospace community,” White explained.
Without Space Command, White said “it takes one of those pieces out” that helps make the area attractive for companies.
“It’s harmful to the total leadership space that Colorado plays in the nation’s aerospace and defense economy,” White said.
Sierra Space, the Louisville-based aerospace company working on the Dream Chaser, just opened a new production facility in Broomfield more than two months ago to make solar panels for defense satellites.
After Trump’s announcement, Sierra Space said it’s already looking to grow in Alabama.
“While our proximity to Guardians and space warfighters in Colorado has enabled our rapid response to emerging threats and expanding mission needs, we remain committed to the space warfighting mission and are responsive to the expanding customer presence in Alabama through Golden Dome and Missile Defense missions,” said Erik Daehler, senior vice president of Sierra Space Defense, in an emailed statement.
The company said it will continue its operations from Colorado and had no current plans to downsize in the state.
“We will continue our unwavering support to this urgent mission and will continue to be responsive to our warfighter’s needs,” Daehler said about growing in Alabama.
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