Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Shawn Bratton<\/a> suggested the service could be on a path to double in size over the next decade, citing growing operational demands.<\/p>\nMeink did not outline specific growth targets. But he said he has spent \u201cmany hours\u201d with Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman discussing how to expand the workforce as the joint force relies more heavily on satellite-based services and new missions emerge in areas such as missile defense and space-based targeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to increase the size of the Space Force because they need more of everything,\u201d Meink said. As the smallest military branch, he added, \u201cthere\u2019s no question the Space Force is going to grow quite a bit compared to the other services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Any expansion would require congressional support. Meink said there appears to be momentum in the fiscal 2026 budget debate to increase the scope of Space Force activities.<\/p>\n
Saltzman highlights imbalance <\/p>\n
Saltzman, speaking after Meink, underscored the scale imbalance between the services. The Air Force outnumbers the Space Force by more than 30 to one, he noted. \u201cYet we must provide combat capabilities and combat forces across all domains, for nearly every joint force mission around the world,\u201d he said. The Space Force\u2019s roughly 15,000 total personnel must integrate with a joint force of about 1.3 million service members.<\/p>\n
Because of its lean structure, Saltzman said, the service has limited surge capacity. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to waste energy or resources,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the capacity to surge hundreds of guardians to fill capability gaps until a solution arrives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The push for growth reflects not only mission expansion but a shift in how space systems are operated. Meink said the service will require operators skilled in managing increasingly automated constellations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old manual ways are not going to cut it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to automate virtually all aspects of operating and orchestrating satellite constellations.\u201d<\/p>\n
That emphasis is tied to a broader Department of the Air Force effort known as the DAF Battle Network, an initiative to build an integrated digital command-and-control architecture linking sensors, decision tools and weapons across the Air Force and Space Force. The objective is to ensure that data from satellites, aircraft, ground radars, cyber systems and other sources can be fused and delivered quickly to decision-makers.<\/p>\n
On the acquisition side, Meink said the department can no longer buy satellites, aircraft, software and communications systems as separate, standalone platforms. They must be procured as interoperable components of a digital enterprise. That shift requires different contracting approaches, faster software iteration and closer alignment between requirements, acquisition and operations.<\/p>\n
Underlying much of the service\u2019s planning is the ongoing \u201cObjective Force\u201d study, an internal effort led by SWAC to define what the Space Force should look like by 2040. Saltzman described the study as an examination of future operating environments, technology trends and adversary capabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the last year, a small team of expert analysts and strategists have been defining our future operating environment for 2040,\u201d he said. Analysts reviewed public information and classified intelligence, assessed new mission demands and built scenarios around emerging technologies and threat vectors.<\/p>\n
Those scenarios were tested in workshops with military, industry, commercial space and allied experts, Saltzman said. \u201cBy 2040 we expect a strategic shift in space warfighting,\u201d he said. He pointed to artificial intelligence operating on orbit, autonomous systems capable of acting with minimal human input, proximity operations and new centers of gravity such as on-orbit servicing, space commerce and cyber capabilities.<\/p>\n
The Objective Force study has produced draft assessments in areas including space-based navigation warfare, space domain awareness and satellite communications. Saltzman emphasized that the effort goes beyond identifying satellites to procure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a comprehensive accounting of systems, units, personnel, numbers, facilities, all of the support requirements needed and the timelines of when we need them,\u201d he said. The study is intended to guide recruiting, training, exercises and readiness, as well as budget and acquisition priorities.<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 Department of the Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the U.S. Space Force is preparing for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":612487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[262738,159,16988,783,11268,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-612486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-department-of-air-force","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-sn","11":"tag-space","12":"tag-space-force","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116124958513494492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}