The Air Force announced Friday that it was revising the approach it's using to select the permanent headquarters for Space Command and the roughly 1,400 military and civilian personnel who will work there.
The new criteria "will increase the number of locations eligible for consideration," the service said. Space Command, which will lead military space operations, was set up in August 2019 to support US Space Force, which was established in December and will provide forces and assets to Space Command.
The new approach considers the "emerging organizational structure" of Space Force and "analyzes its effects on the limited number of highly specialized personnel and infrastructure required to support" both Space Force and Space Command, the Air Force said.
The approach also "expands the number of locations eligible for consideration" and "provides a comprehensive and transparent analysis before selecting a final location."
"Communities must meet three minimum screening criteria to be eligible for self-nomination," John Henderson, Air Force assistant secretary for installations, environment and energy, wrote in a letter released Friday.
Nominations, with an endorsement from that state's governor, are due by June 30.
Then the Air Force will carry out "a comprehensive evaluation in collaboration with eligible communities" and assign a score to the nominations based on evaluation criteria listed in the letter.
The Air Force plans to select a location in early 2021, though it will take about six years for facilities to be prepared. Until then, the provisional headquarters will remain in Colorado Springs.
Below, you can see what it will take for your city to host US Space Command's permanent headquarters.
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