The US Space Force is facing a critical funding challenge. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman recently warned lawmakers that the service needs significantly more funding to manage its expanding mission set, especially given the current budget constraints facing the Pentagon.
Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee, Saltzman described a concerning trend of flat budgets coupled with increasingly demanding responsibilities. “We’re being asked to accept new responsibilities and missions, forcing tough choices between delayed readiness, reduced capacity or unaddressed vulnerabilities,” he stated.
This plea comes after the White House released its preliminary fiscal 2026 budget outline, which proposes maintaining overall defense spending at $892.6 billion—the same as fiscal 2025. While an additional $113.3 billion increase is suggested, it hinges on Congress passing a separate Republican-led reconciliation bill, potentially exceeding $1 trillion in total defense spending.
The uncertainty surrounding the Pentagon’s 2026 budget request means that witnesses, including Saltzman, acting Air Force Secretary Gary Ashworth, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, couldn’t comment on program-specific funding levels. Defense appropriators expressed frustration, with Rep. Ken Calvert criticizing the use of a reconciliation bill as a funding mechanism, stating that it “should not be a substitute for regular appropriations.” Rep. Betty McCollum echoed these concerns, highlighting how appropriating defense dollars this way “undermines the authority and the jurisdiction of the appropriations committee.”
The Space Force’s current fiscal uncertainty follows a challenging 2025 budget cycle, receiving $28.7 billion—$800 million below its request and $300 million less than its 2024 allocation. Despite this, its responsibilities continue to expand, including ground and air target tracking, new space control operations, and a significant increase in modeling, simulation, and launch operations.
Saltzman detailed these new missions: “In the past three years, the U.S. Space Force has been asked to take on new missions, like ground and air moving target indicator, adding new space control capabilities and taking on additional responsibilities associated with modeling and simulation, force design analytics and a threefold increase in launch tempo at our national spaceports and new advanced training requirements.”
A key new responsibility is the Golden Dome next-generation missile defense system, relying heavily on space-based sensors, interceptors, and communication capabilities. “These represent new and emerging requirements for missions that have never been accomplished by a military space organization,” Saltzman explained. “These new mission areas will require new and stable resources over time.”
Saltzman prioritized three key funding areas: accelerating deployment of a proliferated satellite constellation in low Earth orbit, enhancing “counter space” capabilities, and improving testing and training infrastructure. Regarding the satellite constellation, he stated, “More money means I can deliver that proliferated constellation faster.” He also emphasized the need for improved testing and training, including simulators.
While lawmakers showed keen interest in cost estimates for Golden Dome, no witnesses could provide specifics. A Congressional Budget Office report highlighted the difficulty of projecting costs without detailed system specifications. Saltzman concluded by stressing the strategic importance of space assets, stating, “Space gives us an incredible strategic advantage, but any advantage can become a vulnerability when held at risk. In the future, defending the homeland will demand that we first defend the satellites that make that defense possible… If we want a space force that can secure our nation’s interests in, from and to space, we must resource it accordingly.”