Are you ready to move to Huntsville? is a question U.S. Space Force Commanding General B. Chance Saltzman says he is asked “all of the time.”

That is because people often confuse the newest branch of the armed services he commands with U.S. Space Command, which may be on its way to the Rocket City under President Donald Trump’s second administration.

“I have to remind people that’s Space Command, not Space Force,” said Saltzman, who was in town Friday for the premiere of the documentary “Always Above” about Space Force at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

“What’s the difference? Space is space,” Saltzman said he is asked. “The Department of Defense organizes its warfighter activities around 11 combatant commands. One of those is U.S. Space Command. It is responsible for taking guidance and direction from the president and Secretary of Defense for any activities you would consider warfighting in the space domain.”

And Space Force?

“It provides the forces; it provides the equipment; it provides the training of personnel, the combat ready forces to the combat commands to do all of the work, to do the activities that are required to meet those military objectives required by the president and the Secretary of Defense,” Saltzman said. “That’s the key difference. One is the authority to execute combat operations. The other is the service’s responsibility to make sure that the forces that are going to do that work have the right equipment, the right training, the right size, they have the right operational concept, the right tactics. All of that work is done by the service.”

Saltzman offered no revelations as to whether U.S. Space Command will actually come to Huntsville, or when it will happen. But he and Retired Brig. Gen. Damon Feltman, interim president of the Space Force Association’s Huntsville Chapter, said Space Force does have a presence in Huntsville.

They said Space Force has a relationship with two space-oriented agencies in Huntsville: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Missile Defense Agency. It also has relationships with some of the more than 35 aerospace industries that have a presence locally.

“Obviously the science, the research, the human space flight, the technology advancements you get with NASA are tremendously valuable on the national security side,” Saltzman said. “We collaborate on best practices, the safety of flight, the safety of launches. Can we do this properly? Can we do it well? Can we do this together? We share a lot of information and lessons learned. We stay very well connected.”

Saltzman said Space Force Guardians – as those in Space Force are called – serve in the astronaut corps.

“And we have Guardians spread across NASA to continue the kind of collaboration and bring the best practices across.”

Saltzman also called the Missile Defense Agency a “critical partner.”

“We have ground-based radars and space-based sensors that help us to do the missile warning mission, which is just the beginning part of the continuum of operations that include missile defense. Obviously, if you can’t identify threats, you can’t negate those threats.”

Saltzman said threats against U.S. satellites from other countries in the last couple of decades played a role in the creation of Space Force, which was created in 2019. Feltman told AL.com that Space Force acts similar in its relationship with the U.S. Air Force as the U.S. Marine Corps does with the U.S. Navy. The Space Command answers to the Secretary of Defense.

In addition to satellite and missile defense, the Space Force is also involved in combating cyber warfare.