Denver – Today, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D) and Cory Gardner (R) welcomed Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ endorsement of the self-nomination of both the Aurora and Colorado Springs communities to compete to be the permanent home for U.S. Space Command. The announcement followed Polis signing legislation into law to allow military spouse licensure reciprocity in Colorado, which Bennet and Gardner supported to strengthen the state’s efforts to remain the home of U.S. Space Command.
“We are proud that Colorado has two incredible communities in Aurora and Colorado Springs that will be competing to be the permanent home of U.S. Space Command,” said Bennet. “Colorado’s identity as the center of the nation’s national defense and intelligence space missions, existing infrastructure, and support for the military and their families make it the only home for U.S. Space Command.”
“Colorado is proud that Peterson Air Force Base is the provisional home of U.S. Space Command and that our state plays a pivotal role in our national defense and military space operations,” said Gardner. “There’s no better place for U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters than Colorado. Whether it’s in Colorado Springs or Aurora, I’ll continue to work with my bipartisan colleagues to support the future of U.S. Space Command in the Centennial State.”
In May, Bennet and Gardner wrote a letter to Polis calling for him to support military spouse licensure reciprocity in the state, which Polis signed into law yesterday. Last year, the entire Colorado delegation wrote to then-Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and wrote to the then-Acting Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Donovan and Commander of U.S. Space Command General Jay Raymond to emphasize all that Colorado offers as a candidate to be the permanent home of U.S. Space Command.
Colorado has been the temporary home to U.S. Space Command since it was re-established last year. In May, the Air Force announced a new basing decision process that will evaluate self-nominating communities, like Aurora and Colorado Springs, on their ties to the military space mission, existing infrastructure capacity, community support, and cost to the Air Force. The Air Force also announced Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs would remain the provisional location of the command until 2026. The Air Force’s final decision on the mission’s permanent home will be made in January of next year. Bennet and Gardner will continue to work with Polis to demonstrate to the Air Force that Colorado is the only choice for the permanent headquarters of this critical mission.
