What’s in this episode
Hey there!
It’s been another busy week of appearances, reports, and another new policy on integrating commercial space capabilities, but this time from the U.S. Space Force. This episode starts by focussing on a Senate Appropriations hearing because Congress and the White House will negotiate the final budget, pledging dollars to policy.
While the government and consultants started dropping reports on Monday, the real churn started the next day, on the Hill. On Tuesday U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that China’s space capabilities were essentially on par, or close to it, with the United States.
“Our cushion is gone. We are out of time… Continued failure to provide on-time authorities and appropriations, as you both noted, will leave the Air Force and Space Force inadequately prepared.” - SECAF Frank Kendall
The SECAF argued the FY’25 Presidential Budget Request for the Space Force, which prescribes pumping the brakes with a cut of $1.5b in 2024 dollars, is really the result of the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act.
It has been argued, this budget could provide Space Force with an opportunity to offload some programs that are deemed low-performers. On the flip-side, some of this podcast’s guests say this could also mean less effort and money for modernization, developing new capabilities, and growing the number of people needed to cover down on what Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Jon Tester described as “more duties, responsibilities, programs”.
As the budget - the money, the policy, and personnel - will affect the Space Force’s deterrent ability and quality, defense attachés representing friends and foes pay attention to these hearings. As so should we.
This episode is about just what the administration is communicating strategically and geopolitically. It also includes what the SECAf and the USSF CSO said before a crowd of thousands on Wednesday, at the Space Symposium, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they went even deeper into China’s capabilities, and how they envisage force modernization with the integration of commercial space capabilities.
“In space operations, we have become more comfortable with using commercial capabilities to add capacity than we have with fully integrated commercial capabilities into our force design. It is this basic thought that has led to the U.S. Space Force's “Commercial Space Strategy”. - CSO Gen. Chance “Salty” Saltzman
Thank you to our generous sponsor, TE Connectivity!
Who’s in this episode
Namrata Goswami - an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”
Charles Galbreath, a Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies at the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence, who authored the recent report “Securing Cislunar Space and the First Island Off the Coast of Earth”
Some great news!
Scott Sadler’s back! NewSpace Nexus launched the “NewSpace Sadler Report”. Until about mid-December 2023, those of us who follow Space Force developments were treated to Scott’s work. His curated newsletter then and now, in its new Home with NewSpace Nexus (previously known as NewSpace New Mexico), provides timely updates on what’s being published in a variety of media outlets, what’s happening in Congress, and provides information on important future events.
Casey DeRaad, Founder and CEO of NewSpace Nexus, wrote, “He joins the mission to Unite & Ignite Space!” NewSpace Nexus, is a terrific space start-up platform, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, “is a 501(c)(3) non-profit accelerating the pace of space innovation by uniting and igniting the industry.”
Links for policy wonks
To coincide with the FY’25 budget testimony, the Space Force CSO rolled out the “Space Force Commercial Space Strategy, April 10, at Space Space Symposium.
The Space Force strategy follows and is harmonized with the Department of Defense’s first “Commercial Space Integration Strategy”, which, according to the press release, “outlines the department's efforts to effectively integrate commercial space solutions into national security space architectures.” In last week’s episode, The Aerospace Corporation’s Robin Dickey provided us with a very fine synopsis.
For your convenience, here is the National Defense Strategy, the Nuclear Posture Review and the Missile Defense Review 2022, which the two above space strategies support.
This is the “Overview - FY2025 Defense Budget”.
This the Air and Space Forces Association statement that followed the release of the FY’25 Presidential Budget Request.
I’m chuffed! Get your copy of the newly-released “2023 State of the Space Industrial Base (SSIB) Report”! This report, made public on April 8, 2024, is jointly published by the U.S. Space Force, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Defense Innovation Unit, and edited by none other than The DownLink Podcast regular, Peter Garretson. He was last on the podcast a few weeks ago, speaking about the budget request for the Space Force.
I’m chuffed, because after opening it for the third time, I lazily skimmed down the list of folks acknowledged for their contributions and found my name. Who knew? How cool is that?
It’s a true honor to be acknowledged in such company. Thank you, Peter.
Have a great week!
Ad Astra!
Laura
