SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that U.S. Space Command headquarters will relocate to Huntsville, Alabama, reviving his earlier plan and reasserting the city’s decades-old nickname: “Rocket City.”
“Huntsville, Alabama — forever to be known, from this point forward, as Rocket City,” Trump said in the Oval Office, though the name has been used since the 1950s, when Huntsville became the hub of America’s missile and space programs. A 1953 Chamber of Commerce campaign, a widely circulated booklet, and even a downtown rocket display cemented the title.
Trump said the move would bring 30,000 jobs and “hundreds of billions” in investment. Gov. Kay Ivey welcomed the decision, calling Huntsville “Space Central.”
The headquarters has been a political football. Trump first awarded it to Huntsville, but President Joe Biden later moved it to Colorado Springs. Trump on Tuesday reversed that reversal, accusing Biden of blocking the plan for partisan reasons and criticizing Colorado’s mail-in voting system.
For Huntsville, the announcement underscores its historic identity as “Rocket City” — a name earned long before Trump tried to claim it.