Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will move the headquarters of US Space Command, or Spacecom, from Colorado to Alabama, following a years-long political dispute over its location.

"The US Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama, forever to be known from this point forward as Rocket City," he told a press conference at the White House.

Huntsville has had that nickname since at least 1953.

Spacecom, responsible for US military operations in space, is currently based at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, where about 1,700 personnel are employed.

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Colorado's governor is Democrat Jared Polis, while Alabama's governor is Republican Kay Ivey.

Then-US president Joe Biden designated Colorado as the command's home on a provisional basis in 2023.

Trump, who has long favored Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, promised the region 30,000 jobs. He did not explain the discrepancy with current staffing levels in Colorado, and freely admitted partisan political considerations "played a big factor" in his decision.

"They went to mail-in voting... so they automatically had crooked elections," he raged.

The state's congressional delegation hit back hard in a statement promising to "take appropriate action" to block the move.

Space Command is one of 11 US combatant commands within the US Department of Defense, alongside units responsible for operations in Europe, Africa and cyberspace.

Its mission includes monitoring objects in orbit using satellites, supporting other branches of the armed forces such as the Air Force and Navy, and providing early warning of missile attacks.

Trump first announced the establishment of Space Command in late 2018, consolidating responsibilities previously spread across several military departments.