The U.S. Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Department of Defense, established in December 2019. Its primary role is to organize, train, and equip space forces to protect U.S. and allied interests in space by ensuring space superiority. The USSF manages space launch operations, satellite operations, space environment surveillance, and satellite defense, and partners with organizations like NASA on space domain awareness and planetary defense. Key areas of focus include missile warning, satellite communications, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The fiscal year 2020 budget seeks funds to establish the U.S. Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces.
Heather Wilson released a proposal and a $13,000,000,000 five-year cost estimate for establishing a Space Force and a U.S. Space Command.
Heather Wilson prioritized the Air Force’s space mission while supporting efforts to stand up a Space Force in fiscal year 2020.
The Department of Defense is seeking congressional approval to establish a U.S. Space Force as a sixth branch of the U.S. military under the Department of the Air Force.
Some supporters of Heather Wilson consider the $13,000,000,000 estimate for a Space Force and U.S. Space Command accurate.
DoD kept the estimated cost of adding a Space Force to about $500,000,000 by tapping into existing resources.
The Pentagon requested congressional authorization and $72,000,000 in 2020 to establish a Space Force headquarters in the Pentagon under the Department of the Air Force.
The Pentagon plans to transfer thousands of service members, primarily from the Air Force, into the Space Force starting in 2021.
The Pentagon asked Congress to grant the secretary of defense special authorities over five years to move resources into the Space Force, similar to authorities used in 1947 to form the Air Force.
The Department of Defense plans to seek relief from doctrinal constraints that affect other services to support the Space Force.
The Department of Defense plans to build the Space Force mostly with existing resources by transferring personnel from the Air Force, Navy, and Army.
The Pentagon projects the Space Force would reach a size of 12,000 to 15,000 people, most of whom would come from existing organizations.
A draft of the legislative proposal requests $72,000,000 in fiscal year 2020 to stand up the Space Force headquarters.
A December memo from the Pentagon’s cost accounting office proposed $64,000,000 for Space Force headquarters in fiscal year 2020.
The Pentagon assesses that future Space Force costs could increase if the department takes more aggressive actions to build systems resiliency or create counter-space capabilities.
Starting in 2021, as many as 10,000 people could be moved to the Space Force along with $8,000,000,000 worth of space programs, most of which are currently owned by the Air Force.
The Pentagon has had roughly eight months to assemble the Space Force plan after President Trump ordered its creation in June 2018.
Analysts from the Center for Naval Analyses concluded that there are many possible ways to design a Space Force and that it cannot be known before implementation whether any design will produce the expected benefits.
A Pentagon internal memo that shaped the Department of Defense fiscal year 2020 budget request estimated approximately $270,000,000 would be needed to stand up a Space Force headquarters, a Space Development Agency, and U.S. Space Command.
The Department of Defense would request $64,000,000 in the fiscal year 2020 budget to stand up the Space Force headquarters.