Alabama was all but set to be the location for the headquarters of America’s newest military branch in 2021.

Under the Trump administration, Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville was selected as the Air Force’s preferred location for U.S. Space Command headquarters, but the decision was nixed by President Biden, who reversed the move and named Colorado Springs, Colorado as Space Command’s permanent home.

How did the headquarters go from Colorado (temporarily) to Alabama (permanently) back to Colorado (permanently)? Here’s a timeline of key decisions that culminated in Monday’s announcement:

Aug. 29, 2019: U.S. Space Command created

America’s sixth and newest military branch, U.S. Space Command, is established with its temporary headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. But the process begins on a permanent home for the command.

May 15, 2019: Alabama confirmed to be on short list for U.S. Space Command

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson named Huntsville as one of six finalists for the headquarters, which is composed of Redstone; Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado; Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station in Colorado; Preston Air Force Base in Colorado; Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado; and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Nov. 19, 2020: Huntsville again named as finalist

Huntsville is again named a finalist after the process is reopened. Joining Redstone were Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Patrick Air Force Base, Florida; Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; and Port San Antonio, Texas.

Jan. 13, 2021: Air Force selects Huntsville as ‘preferred location’ for Space Command headquarters

The announcement paves the way for Redstone Arsenal to become the home of U.S. Space Command.

Air Force documents obtained by AL.com showed Huntsville ranked higher than Colorado in 11 of 21 comparisons used by the government in seeking the best site for the new U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters. Colorado only bested Alabama in 3 of the 21 categories.

Feb. 19, 2021: Department of Defense opens an ‘evaluation’ of Huntsville

Under new President Joe Biden, the Pentagon’s inspector general announces an “evaluation” of how Huntsville was selected, adding that the agency “may revise the objective as the evaluation proceeds, and we will also consider suggestions from management for additional or revised objectives.”

“Specifically, we will evaluate the extent to which the Department of the Air Force complied with DoD and Air Force policies during the location selection process; used objective and relevant scoring factors to rank the six candidate locations; and calculated the cost and other scoring factors accurately and consistently among the six candidate locations.”

July 13, 2022: Alabama passes a key hurdle

The Pentagon releases a draft environmental assessment finding “no significant impacts on the human or natural environment” if the headquarters is built on the Redstone Arsenal site.

July 31, 2023: Decision reversed, Colorado named permanent Space Command HQ instead of Alabama

Biden confirms months of reports and rumors that he was nixing the decision to base Space Command in Alabama and named Colorado as the branch’s permanent home.

Unnamed U.S. officials told the Associated Press the president “was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. Dickinson’s view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move.”

The AP noted the reversal was “sure to enrage Alabama lawmakers and fuel accusations that abortion politics played a role in the choice.”

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., was among the outraged Alabama officials.

“President Biden has irresponsibly decided to yank a military decision out of the Air Force’s hands in the name of partisan politics,” she said. “Huntsville finished first in both the Air Force’s Evaluation Phase and Selection Phase, leaving no doubt that the Air Force’s decision to choose Redstone as the preferred basing location was correct purely on the merits.

U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, called President Biden’s reported decision to keep Space Command headquarters in Colorado “shameful.”

“It is clear to anyone who has looked at the facts: Huntsville, Alabama is the best place for U.S. Space Command Headquarters,” Strong said. “Repeated investigations and objective reviews have proven that to be the case.”