CEDARVILLE — Hoping to leverage Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Ohio’s aviation history, Gov. Mike DeWine formally asked for the area to be the permanent headquarters of the U.S. Space Command.

In a Sept. 17 letter to Pres. Donald Trump, DeWine said that the region’s goal is to develop dramatically improved interrelations to support the country’s national space strategy.

“As such, our Nation would benefit greatly by the synergies of a co-location of U.S. Space Command Headquarters with the Air Force Research Laboratory, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the Air Force Institute of Technology, and the Air Force Materiel Command,” DeWine wrote. “Further, Ohio is also home to the NASA Glenn Research Center and NASA Plum Brook Station, as well as the Battelle Memorial Institute. Just as our Nation leads the world in aerospace research and development, these national laboratories also lead our Nation.”

Space Command — which is responsible for military operations in outer space — is temporarily headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., with additional personnel and functions at Schriever AFB, Colo., Offutt AFB, Neb., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

In May, the Department of the Air Force announced that it would accept nominations for the headquarters’ location based on three specific criteria, all of which Ohio met. The state made it through the first round of cuts and can officially apply to be the permanent home early next year.

DeWine previously said the region is where those jobs belong and that “We’ve got so many things going for us at Wright-Patt.” He reiterated that in his letter.

“Ohio possesses a strong track record in populating science-rich jobs with a superior workforce,” DeWine wrote to the president. “I also recommend that Secretary Esper strongly consider the consolidation of space intelligence activities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the establishment of the Space Development Agency’s mission in Ohio, thereby taking advantage of our Air Force research, intelligence and acquisition expertise, and our NASA Glenn facilities in Cleveland and Plum Brook.”

DeWine stressed that Ohio is “fully committed” to being a key partner in the national aerospace mission.

“Ohio led this nation into the ‘air age’ of the early 20th Century, and we have every desire to lead us into the “aerospace age” of the 21st Century!” he wrote.