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US Space Force, US Space Command Gets Funding
[SpaceNews.com] Military space gets big boost in Pentagon’s $750 billion budget planPentagon officials hailed the Trump administration’s plan to spend $14.1 billion on national security space programs in 2020 as a bold but necessary move to preserve and strengthen U.S. military dominance. The nearly 20 percent increase in military space spending sought by the Trump administration comes as the White House and the Pentagon prepare to stand up a new Space Development Agency, reestablish U.S. Space Command and plead their case to Congress for establishing a new Space Force within the Department of the Air Force. "Future wars will be waged not just in the air, on the land or at sea but also in space and cyberspace, dramatically increasing the complexity of warfare," David Norquist, acting deputy secretary of defense, told reporters following the rollout of the Pentagon’s budget March 12. Norquist said budget priorities were shaped by the administration’s National Defense Strategy, which emphasizes strategic competition with China and Russia. The space investments, he said, support the military’s transition to a more resilient architecture that allows forces to operate in a contested environment. The funding request for space is part of the president’s $750 billion proposed budget for national defense ‐ $718 billion for the Defense Department and $32 billion for national security programs performed by the Department of Energy’s nuclear laboratories and other agencies. The lion’s share of the space budget proposal, about $13.8 billion, is for space programs primarily overseen by the U.S. Air Force. An additional $306 million is for standing up three new organizations: U.S. Space Force, U.S. Space Command and the Space Development Agency. In total, DoD is seeking a 19.5 percent increase for space, or $2.3 billion more than the $11.8 billion Congress enacted for 2019, according to Air Force budget deputy Carolyn Gleason. Jamie Morin, vice president of defense systems operations at the Aerospace Corp., called the $2.3 billion boost for military space proposed by the administration a "strong increase." Posted by: Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365 2019-04-02 |
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