Amid the forest of more than 200 exhibitors at the Space Symposium are hundreds of companies hawking products and services, more than a dozen national space agencies, several states and chambers of commerce representing just three cities.

The Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC and the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. aren’t big surprises given they represent the host city and its larger northern neighbor, but why is the Huntsville Madison County Chamber from Alabama the only other local chamber with a booth? It’s probably not a great surprise since former President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Space Command to move from Colorado Springs to the Alabama city days before he left office in January 2021.

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The two booths weren’t anywhere near each other this week – the local chamber’s booth, shared with a space cybersecurity organization, was in Bartolin Hall between two defense contractors, while the Huntsville chamber’s booth was in the smaller Broadmoor Hall, next to an Arvada manufacturer.

The Huntsville chamber had been trying to get a symposium for years and was on the waiting list until last year, when the opening of Bartolin Hall – built in part to host the event – doubled the number of exhibits the symposium could accommodate. The symposium still has hundreds of companies, nonprofits and government agencies on its waiting list for exhibits, and the list is getting longer because exhibits are getting larger so fewer can fit in the existing space.

A call and email to the Huntsville chamber didn’t get a response, and none of the three people at the booth, including the organization’s senior vice president of economic development and workforce, were authorized to comment for this story. Executives from the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC have visited the Huntsville chamber booth both years and introduced themselves, so the relationship remains cordial, but the local chamber didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Zachary Watson, senior manager of media and public affairs for Space Foundation, which stages the symposium, said all exhibitors pay for booths at the event for the same reason – exposure at an annual convention that the foundation calls “the greatest space show on earth.”

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“They (the Huntsville chamber) are here for the same reason as the Colorado Springs chamber is here – they want to have a presence,” Watson said Thursday. “The symposium is open to everyone, and Huntsville wants to be involved as well. We welcome any city, state or country – there is room for all of them in the space ecosystem. We think it is great. Organizations exhibit to reach a wider audience and the symposium is the largest stage in space.”

It probably didn’t hurt for either the Colorado Springs or Huntsville chambers that U.S. Space Command Commander Gen. James Dickinson and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall were among the speakers on this year’s symposium program along with many other military and civilian leaders.

Colorado Springs officials and members of the state’s congressional delegation have worked for more than two years to get Trump’s decision reversed, or at least to have the headquarters location process reopened. They have argued moving the command would cost more than $1 billion, force many of the command’s personnel and civilian employees to move or quit, and would likely delay the command’s plan to formally begin operations later this year.

An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found “significant shortfalls” in the Air Force selection process, while a Department of Defense Inspector General probe found the process was reasonable and not improperly influenced by politics.

Despite rumors that a decision is imminent on whether to keep the headquarters in Colorado Springs or move it to Huntsville, no announcement has been made.