Rocket City Ready for Space Command

By Donald Horne

With U.S. Space Command HQ heading to Huntsville in Alabama, Rocket City is set to become a logistics powerhouse. What new projects and manufacturing growth might this ignite for project cargo?

From Issue 6, 2025 of Breakbulk Magazine

(5-minute read)

Rocket City is no longer just a nickname. With U.S. Space Command choosing Redstone Arsenal as its permanent home, Huntsville shifts from research town to command hub, plugging Space Command into the region’s deep defense-logistics and manufacturing network that includes Army Materiel Command, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and a dense layer of primes and suppliers.

About 1,400 jobs will move from Colorado Springs over five years, putting Huntsville at the center of U.S. military space operations. Alabama beat Kirtland, Offutt, Joint Base San Antonio, Peterson (the interim site) and Patrick — not just for rockets, locals argue, but for the ecosystem that sustains them.

Huntsville has a long history of involvement in space operations, as Jim Wall, president of 256 Trucking, told Breakbulk. “Lots of things that went into the moon landing were manufactured in Huntsville,” said Wall. “We already have a lot to do with rockets in general, from the manufacturing of them to the Marshall Space Flight Center, which has direct contact with the space station. So, the tech and stuff that’s going on around there is really evolving and lots of high-end companies are moving to Huntsville.”

Support for President Trump’s decision came from a formal review from the Department of Defense Inspector General and former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who came out with his public support and backed the Department of the Air Force’s decision process.

“Huntsville’s been Rocket City since the ’50s,” said Wall. “Trump officially monikered it when he said the space company was moving, but anybody that’s been around a while has called it Rocket City for years.” In May 2022, the review found that the selection of Redstone Arsenal as the permanent site was “reasonable and justified.”

“It makes sense that another government agency would move into Huntsville, especially with the already large aerospace presence Huntsville has,” adds Wall.

Among the aerospace companies already located in the area are Leidos, a missile manufacturer involved in space defense. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have all had a presence in Huntsville for some time.

Jane Weber, chief media operations, U.S. Space Command Public Affairs, states that while the move to Huntsville is still in the early stages, “the command is expeditiously carrying out the direction of the president, while also remaining laser-focused on accomplishing our vital national security missions.”

What is Space Command?

The United States Space Command, or USSPACECOM, is a unified combatant command responsible for military operations in outer space, 62 miles above sea level. While many believe it was created by President Trump during his first term, USSPACECOM was formally established on Sept. 23, 1985 as a unified combatant command for military operations in space.

The idea of centralizing military space activities dates back to 1959, when Adm. Arleigh Burke proposed a Defense Astronautics Agency, but no command was created then. USSPACECOM was abolished in 2002 and folded into U.S. Strategic Command, then re-established on Aug. 29, 2019.

The Redstone Arsenal is one of the nation’s most strategically significant defense campuses, designated as a Federal Center of Excellence crucial to mission-critical operations. Some 60 acres of land near the Arsenal have been tapped for the new Space Command facility, which will join the Missile Defense Agency, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army Materiel Command already on site.

The 65 federal agencies already based in the region are expected to provide experience and mission support in the coming years for the move, aided by the city of Huntsville, which has already invested in the move, including more than US$250 million in construction projects, over US$400 million in transportation improvements, and almost US$1 billion in school enhancements, upgrades to health care and the local hospital and various recreation and community improvements.

City leaders highlighted Resolute Way, a planned connector from I-565 to Redstone Arsenal’s Gate 9/Redstone Gateway, designed to ease traffic to and from the Arsenal.

“They’re widening roads, building apartments upon apartments to house people,” Wall pointed out. “I believe the estimates are from 200,000 to 250,000 jobs between the whole deal. All aspects of our business could be affected, from the heavy haul side all the way down to the rental equipment side that we haul, because they’re going to have to build more apartments, more roads, more townhomes.”

Logistical Needs Will Be Met

With an inland port, located alongside Huntsville International Airport and several logistics facilities, North Alabama is fully equipped to handle the logistics needs of new companies locating to the Huntsville region, says Butch Roberts, CEO, Port of Huntsville.

The International Intermodal Center (IIC) is in the heart of the 7,400-acre Port of Huntsville, located in southwest Madison County, Ala. The IIC provides a single-hub location specializing in receiving, transferring, storing and distributing international and domestic cargo via air, rail and highway.

“Huntsville is easily accessible via a strong network of interstate and U.S. highways with I-565 serving as the main east-west thoroughfare and offering direct access to I-65, a major north-south artery linking the city to the Southeast. Meanwhile, Midwest U.S. Norfolk Southern is the primary provider of rail service through Huntsville IIC and supports a wide range of freight operations from bulk cargo to ocean shipping containers routed through the Port of Huntsville,” says Roberts.

“Huntsville International Airport (HSV) at the Port of Huntsville continues to grow commercial passenger service, and we offer nonstop service to 18 destination airports with 40 to 45 departures per day on five airlines: American, Delta, United, Allegiant and Breeze.”

HSV has been licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Spaceport and approved as the first commercial airport to support the landing of the Dream Chaser commercial space vehicle manufactured by Sierra Space.

Expansion shouldn’t be an issue, says Roberts, thanks to onsite U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as international freight forwarders such as DSV to help ensure smooth transport of cargo through the supply chain.

“HSV is already handling specialized breakbulk cargo, utilizing customized loading techniques to efficiently manage oversized freight shipments,” he says. “The airport is built to handle the demands of global cargo transport required by Huntsville’s aerospace, aviation, defense and military industries.”

Huntsville’s dual parallel runways stretch 12,600 and 10,000 feet and can support the largest aircraft on the planet, including the Antonov AN124, famous for carrying massive and specialized cargo loads. “We have land, air cargo ramps/facilities, and rail cargo infrastructure in place to easily meet the growing demands for the next 10 years,” says Roberts.

The Port of Huntsville and partners have invested US$2 billion in capital investments since the Port of Huntsville opened on its current site in 1967, later enhanced by the IIC which opened in 1986 to support logistics and freight operations. Driven by strong economic and community development, Huntsville and Madison County have grown rapidly, adding nearly 30% more residents since 2010 and reaching a population of over half a million people, according to the 2024 Census.

Capital investments and leadership have allowed Huntsville to maintain its position as a global player in attracting major companies and government agencies to our region. The state also offers competitive incentives to encourage import/export growth, which includes breakbulk products, by companies with a presence in Alabama who support government entities.

Braced for Extra Work

Companies that already have a relationship with government contractors are ideally positioned for the upcoming move to Huntsville, but will also need to deal with the added workload.

“We do a lot of shipping out to missile ranges and stuff for those people. So, when they’re moving certain systems out there to test, we haul a lot of those systems,” says Wall. “It’s definitely going to affect what we’re currently doing in all 48 (states).

Huntsville will be the production site for missiles and other systems, but they’ll still be shipped west for testing. “You would have to go through Louisiana, Mississippi, and then Alabama. So, for us to get out to somewhere like White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, it’s about two days,” says Wall.

White Sands Missile Range in Alamogordo, New Mexico, is one location where shipments are made for different subcontractors. Huntsville is also in the process of building a large FBI headquarters, says Wall. “They’re moving something like 3,000 agents from Quantico to Huntsville,” he says.

Norfolk Southern (NS), an integral provider of rail transportation in northern Alabama, is ready to handle the increased traffic that will come with Space Command and other agencies that are coming into the area. Chad Previch, senior communications manager for Norfolk Southern, says that “NS is constantly evaluating our rail infrastructure to ensure we are well positioned for current customer growth and future rail service opportunities in the Huntsville area and across North Alabama.”

NS operations in Alabama employ more than 1,570 people, serving some 565 unique customers while investing US$112 million annually on road and infrastructure improvements. Over the past decade, NS has participated in 55 projects that resulted in more than US$7.5 billion in industrial investment and over 8,100 jobs created, it says.

These numbers are expected to be bolstered by the July 29 announcement of NS and Union Pacific Corp. agreeing to create the nation’s first transcontinental railroad, connecting more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states, linking up some 100 ports.

Over the next five years, shifting Space Command to north Alabama will create a steady drumbeat of moves between primes and suppliers across Huntsville. “Everything has to move,” says Wall. “Multiple businesses are working on different parts of the same program, and the pieces have to shuttle back and forth, so it creates a ton of transportation needs.”

256 Trucking runs nine project cargo rigs today, with capability up to 135,000 lb and 60-ft super-stretch work, plus modules, coolers, generators and other plant gear. “They’re expecting to start work in 2026, and once it starts, it moves quickly,” Wall adds. “From infrastructure to new programs, it’s a very big opportunity.”

Don Horne is a Canada-based freelance journalist and editor.

Top photo: Astronauts from NASA and the European Space Agency transit down a ramp on the amphibious transport dock USS Somerset. Credit: USSPACECOM