A 920th Rescue Wing HC-130J Combat King II aircraft sits on the flight line at Patrick Space Force Base, Fla., as the Inspiration4 rocket launches in the background. Inspiration4 is the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit. (Kelly Goonan/U.S. Air Force)
The Space Force budget proposal for fiscal 2025 dropped 2% from last year despite the service adding 400 new guardians to its force, according to Air Force officials.
The Air Force requested $29.4 billion for the military’s 4-year-old service branch for fiscal 2025, which begins Oct. 1. That’s roughly $3 billion less than the 2024 Space Force budget, which has yet to be approved by Congress. Yet the budget expects Space Force to have 9,800 guardians, up from 9,400 in 2024.
The main factor driving the decrease is a drop in the number of launches planned for next year, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Friday when he and service officials previewed the Department of Air Force budget request, which includes Space Force.
“The area which I’m most concerned about risk and trying to move forward as quickly as I can is space,” Kendall said. “China has fielded a combination of antisatellite capabilities and space-based targeting capabilities. So they’re threatening our space assets, and they’re threatening our joint force. We’ve got to respond to that.”
As in previous years, most of the Space Force budget — roughly 63% — is dedicated to research, development and testing. That includes $2.1 billion for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellite program and $1.7 billion for space technology development and prototyping.
“We’re not moving as fast there as we would like to, but we didn’t have any place to make any adjustments,” Kendall said of research and development.
Other spending includes an additional $413 million for satellite communications for space development and production, $267 million more to spend on missile warning and tracking, and increases tactical satellite communication spending by $237 million.
To convince guardians to stay in Space Force, the proposed budget increases bonus payouts by about $4.5 million to $25 million with selective retention bonuses and initial enlistment bonus pay, said Maj. Gen. Mike Greiner, deputy assistant secretary for budget.
There’s an additional $5.7 million for assignment incentive pay as well.
These funds will help “to get the right folks on the team and then to retain them and keep them long term,” Greiner said.
