Colorado Springs is a leading candidate to permanently house the command. The Air Force confirmed last week that three of the six locations named finalists to house the command are in the Pikes Peak region. Another finalist is Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora. The Colorado sites will battle with Vandenberg in California and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama as the Air Force makes a final selection.

Whiting, a former commander of Peterson’s 21st Space Wing, said getting the command up and running “will also strengthen our strategic deterrence through the provision of space warfighting options that preserve U.S. and allied competitive advantage, and promote security and stability.”

While the command won’t have the binational flavor of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, it will lead U.S. efforts to build a coalition to assure safety in space.

Right now, key allies including Britain are working with the 14th Air Force at Vandenberg’s Joint Space Operations Center. Allies are also being enrolled at Space Command’s schoolhouse at Peterson, which teaches classes from introductory courses to high-level space defense.