Could Fort Worth host the U.S. Space Command headquarters?
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space, on Aug. 18 sent a letter to Secretary of the Air Force advocating for the cities of Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio to be selected to host U.S. Space Command Headquarters after the Air Force announced that these Texas cities would continue to the evaluation phase of the selection process.
In the letter, Sen. Cruz wrote:
“There is no better location for the men and women of Space Command than the great state of Texas. Cities and towns across Texas have been repeatedly recognized as among the best communities in the nation for supporting the military, including through numerous national awards from veterans’ organizations and the Department of Defense for their support of military bases.”
He added:
“There’s a reason why one of the first words spoken on the surface of the moon was that of a Texas city. The importance of space to the state of Texas, and vice versa, has only grown since. The state is home to large contingents of the best aerospace technology and development corporations in the world and hosts a litany of private research, development, manufacturing, and launch sites like those of Blue Origin, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, and United Launch Alliance, just to name a few.“
In Dec. 2018, President Donald Trump launched the Pentagon’s new Space Command, an effort to better organize and advance the military’s vast operations in space that could cost as much as $800 million over the next five years.
Trump signed a one-page memorandum authorizing the Defense Department to create the new command. The goal is to set up a command to oversee and organize space operations, accelerate technical advances and find more effective ways to defend U.S. assets in space, including the vast constellations of satellites that American forces rely on for navigation, communications and surveillance. The move comes amid growing concerns that China and Russia are working on ways to disrupt, disable or even destroy U.S. satellites.