Colorado vows to challenge Space Command move to Alabama

Driving the news: Trump's decision comes as a major blow to Colorado's status as the No. 1 state per capita for aerospace employment, threatening more than 2,000 related businesses and 55,000 employees.

What he's saying: Trump said he moved Space Command out of Colorado because the state conducts mail-in voting for its elections, making them "automatically crooked."

• "That played a big factor," Trump said about his decision.

Yes, but: Weiser called the transfer "an unlawful decision."

Catch up quick: The latest announcement is part of a years-long debate on where to locate Space Command.

• A 2021 study named Huntsville, home to the 38,000-acre Redstone Arsenal and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, as its preferred location for Space Command.
• The Air Force announced Redstone as the ideal headquarters for Space Command again in 2023, following a yearlong reevaluation of that selection process.
• The Biden administration in 2023 overturned plans from the first Trump administration to move the Space Command to Alabama and named Colorado the agency's temporary home.

By the numbers: In 2024, Colorado set a record with $38 billion in aerospace investment in companies headquartered in the state, state economic development officials report.

• Space Command's economic impact in Colorado Springs is estimated at $1 billion and supports roughly 1,400 jobs.

Zoom in: Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade called the relocation unsurprising, adding it "threatens operational continuity at a time when space-related threats are only increasing."

• The state's congressional delegation sent a bipartisan statement saying the transfer "will directly harm our state and the nation."