A Depleted Space Force Races To Prepare For Trump’s Spending Spree

President Donald Trump wants to double the Space Force’s budget in just one year — a stunning move to build out the military’s orbital arsenal.

But the president’s dream faces a decidedly earth-bound reality: The agency doesn’t yet have the personnel to spend that kind of money effectively. And even if they did, the nation’s existing supply chain would be hard-pressed to meet demand.

The six-year-old military service is stretched thin after it lost hundreds of employees who worked in acquisitions during last year’s federal workforce purge. And top agency officials say it’s going to be a challenge to spend the $71 billion the White House has targeted for the coming year, which is nearly 80 percent more than the current year.

“We are asking to double the Space Force’s budget in FY-27 going forward. We owe it to the taxpayers and our future generations to effectively execute every dollar of that increase, and it will be a big challenge,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said this week during the annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The push to build out military space systems is a watershed moment for the agency, as the U.S. races to stay ahead of China in the battle for satellite supremacy.

But key components of those weapons — from microelectronics to valves — are hard to come by. And the agency doesn’t have enough experienced officers to ensure the right companies are getting contracts to build those weapons.

There are real concerns about whether the government “truly understands where and how to best spend the increase,” said one former defense official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive agency planning. Instead, existing programs might reap a windfall just because they’re already up and running — not because they’re the best option, the official said.

To resolve the human resources crunch, Space Systems Command, the service’s main acquisition arm, has been ordered to hire 100 civilians a month. “We are hiring like there's never been a tomorrow,” said Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of SSC.

And while lawmakers of both parties have expressed interest in building out the Space Force, there’s still a long congressional appropriations process that needs to play out before the agency can start writing checks.

Meanwhile, component manufacturers may not be able to keep up with demand for a variety of specialized parts, from advanced laser equipment and propulsion systems to solar panels and key computer elements.

There are weaknesses in the supply chain that “we still don't fully understand,” said Jamie Morin, vice president of defense strategic space at The Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit federally funded research center.

“When all of the satellite vendors are going to the same component manufacturers for specific things that are needed across multiple missions, or we try to really scale up launch with new providers, we're going to hit some significant issues that will slow programs down,” Morin said.

Defense contractors — eyeing the massive pot of money — have already started making investments into manufacturing facilities to prepare.

Near-term, there will be some supply issues, said Robert Lightfoot, president of space at Lockheed Martin. But if Washington delivers a steady diet of big budgets, companies will be comfortable making the necessary investments to build out the Space Force, Lightfoot said.

The Trump administration is planning on it. The Office of Management and Budget projects Space Force’s top-line funding will stay at $69 billion in fiscal 2028 and hover at $65 billion by fiscal 2030.

Spending it quickly — if Congress provides it — will be the challenge. The Pentagon is a notoriously difficult customer, and both Space Force officials and industry executives say the existing procurement system is a bottleneck.

“There's enough demand for the money, whether the money can actually get flown out in a contracting form — that's a different discussion,” Lightfoot said.

If Congress punts this year’s appropriations bills and opts for a continuing resolution, that could throw the agency’s plans into disarray.

“When you're trying to spend a significant increase, those slow[downs] have a compounding effect,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said.

To prepare, Saltzman said the agency is doing upfront contracting work so mechanisms are in place when the money starts flowing.

“That's what the team is focused on now, is so it'll be expanding contracts and extending contracts, not developing new contracts. That's one of our main strategies for going fast,” Saltzman said.

A lot hinges on whether Republicans press forward with a party-line spending package. The service’s White House budget requested $59 billion as a baseline, plus another $12 billion through a possible reconciliation measure — which would allow Republicans to avoid the supermajority threshold in the Senate — to get to the $71 billion top line.

The Trump administration is calling for $350 billion in total reconciliation spending for defense programs, but that could be tough to advance, given the GOP’s narrow majorities and a fraught election year.

Saltzman declined to say how Space Force plans would be affected if it doesn’t get an additional $12 billion in reconciliation funds. He said he’ll work with Congress to figure out the best path forward for funding the service.

“That's their business on reconciliation versus base … I don't care how they give us the resources. It could be a car wash for all I care,” Saltzman said. “If we get the resources, I want to have it laid in, to put into the programs.”