HUNTSVILLE, AL - The Air Force used a makeshift process that did not fully follow its own “best practices” when it selected Huntsville, Alabama, for the new U.S. Space Command headquarters over Offutt Air Force Base and four other sites in January 2021, according to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office.

Auditors of the Government Accountability Office found the Air Force had "fully or substantially" met only 7 of 21 best-practice standards for selecting the sites of strategic bases like the SpaceCom headquarters.

The Air Force only “minimally” met standards for making its selection credible and it only “partially” met standards for appearing unbiased because it failed to document the reasons it weighted various selection factors for the bids it analyzed. Key costs were also left out in the cost analysis.

GAO's report did say, however, that Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal seems to be the correct choice under the process used, even if that process was flawed.

SpaceCom is in charge of all of the military’s space operations. It is separate from the Space Force, which was created by President Donald Trump as a sixth branch of the armed forces in 2019.

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