Overview
- Gen. Chance Saltzman told allied commanders in London on July 15 that he will retire next month and warned that a conflict in orbit would affect every nation’s satellites because orbital paths cross borders.
- President Trump’s pick to replace him, Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, held a short, largely noncontroversial Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on July 16 and told senators the administration’s $71.1 billion request is necessary to counter Chinese and Russian counterspace threats.
- House Republican leaders have signaled support for a much smaller reconciliation package near $60 billion, which would leave major Space Force efforts underfunded and put programs such as airborne moving target indication, the Space Data Network, and the Golden Dome missile-defense work at risk.
- Officials plan to speed acquisitions and expand the workforce and launch infrastructure by adopting Space Development Agency-style buy cycles, but lawmakers and agencies face tensions over who controls satellite buys and intelligence systems, creating program and timing uncertainty.
- The service is shifting from support roles to an explicit warfighting posture under a 15-year Objective Force plan, a change that will add thousands of uniformed and civilian Guardians, alter career models, and shape allied cooperation and U.S. deterrence options for years.