Members of the 8th Combat Training Squadron salute an American flag during the playing of the national anthem during the 8 CTS inactivation ceremony at Schriever Space Force Base, Colo., on June 4, 2025. (U.S. Space Force)
The Space Force released the largest funding request in its six-year history Thursday, asking Congress to approve $39.9 billion to spend next year as the service takes on new mission requirements including a massive “Golden Dome” missile defense shield.
It is a 30% increase in spending from fiscal 2025, according to the Defense Department.
“To be successful in our expanding mission portfolio, we must be able to control the space domain — protecting our capabilities in space while denying an adversary the opportunity to use space against us,” Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, told members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations’ subpanel on defense.
Space Force accounts for about 3% of the $961.6 billion requested for the Defense Department for fiscal 2026, which begins Oct. 1, according to a briefing Thursday with defense officials. With about 9,400 guardians, its personnel are less than 1% of all service members.
The Space Force budget includes $26.1 billion in discretionary spending and $13.8 billion for mandatory spending, according to the Air Force, which oversees the Space Force.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Air Force had not yet released documents detailing exactly how the Space Force planned to spend its requested funding. However, defense officials outlined $15.1 billion to counter cyber threats that threaten military operations.
A defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the service requested funds that will go toward capabilities that support the Golden Dome, though the person declined to say how much. The Golden Dome is budgeted for a $25 billion initial investment within a separate spending proposal pending in Congress.
President Donald Trump campaigned on building the missile defense dome, which is envisioned as a ground- and space-based system that can detect and destroy missiles fired at the United States.
More details about Space Force’s role in the Golden Dome will be available once Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations, is approved by the Senate to run the program, according to defense officials.
Other increases in Space Force spending come from the expansion of satellites expected in the next three years. The service protects “dozens” of satellites that enable communications, missile warnings, civilian internet access, and GPS navigation and timing that are key to economic and financial infrastructure, Saltzman told senators.
“In the next two years, we’ll put another 300 in orbit,” he said.
His greatest concern for those satellites is China’s “kill web” that can track and target at a great distance, potentially impacting all U.S. military operations.
Despite the request for increased spending, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., chairman of the subpanel, and Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the subpanel’s top Democrat, worried it is not enough to keep pace with technology and threats from China and Russia.
“The Space Force needs advanced satellite technologies, resilient communications systems, and enhanced surveillance capabilities to deter aggression, ensure freedom of maneuver, and maintain uninterrupted space-based support to joint and allied forces back on planet Earth. And you can’t do any of it with anemic base budgets. You just can’t,” McConnell said.
Coons argued the budget lacked detail and fails to keep pace with threats as well as opportunity for innovation alongside the private sector.
“It fails to meaningfully address some of the enduring challenges past leaders have warned about,” he said.
Coons noted, in 2025, Space Force had $18.6 billion for research and development yet only requested $15.5 billion for 2026.
“I’m very concerned by how this budget is prioritized overall and where you’ve decided to take on additional risk,” he said.
