As the U.S. Space Force turns four this month, a pair of retired military leaders outline the Space Force’s critical need for resources to counter evolving threats and maintain the United State’s security interests in an increasingly competitive space environment.
Space is critical to everything we do. The United States has been the dominant player in space for over 40 years, and during this time over 60 nations have been able to use space for their nation’s benefit in a free and open environment, allowing a thriving global commercial space industry to grow. However, this reality is changing with space becoming contested, congested, and competitive. We now have peer and near-peer competitors that do not have the same view on the open and free use of space as the U.S. does, resulting in a competitive new space race, that will have far-reaching effects on the global community. Space is no longer a sanctuary.
The Space Force (USSF) was established in December 2019, with personnel manning levels that were appropriate to what was planned for the service at that time and were constrained by what the U.S. Air Force was already doing, and therefore, currently consists of personnel transferred from other services who were already doing space missions. However, new evolving threats, and the USSF response to these threats, require growth. As documented in the August 2023 Comprehensive Strategy for the Space Force, “the Space Force is focused on validating that a projected end strength of 8,600 uniformed personnel along with approximately 5,000 civilians.” If this increase is enacted, the Space Force would still be the smallest service in the U.S. military, well behind the Coast Guard, the second smallest service, which has approximately 40,000 personnel. We understand that at a time of frugal defense spending, any new requirements should be scrutinized, but we feel that the Space Force’s needs are critical to our national security. Space is…
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