Space Force

actually the coolest thing imaginable . "Deceives" people , assures the New knows no rules and laws leading to yuge satisfaction in people who tend to appear orange on TV .
 
The aerospace industry is so over classified that the secretaries of the Air Force and Space Force have complained about how the over-classificaiton makes it difficult to explain what adversary nations are doing in space and to justify higher expenditures. Just this week Russia maneuvered one of their satellites closer to one of the US's spy satellites in such a way that it has a very good view of it.
 
There is only one official Space Force employee at the moment. The other 16,000 that have been earmarked for the service have yet to be officially transferred over.

That first employee had to give a comprehensive update on Space Force plans and activities this week. So far, so good. Apparently Congress has to sign off on the personnel transfers, which is why it hasn't happened yet. I'm actually happy the new branch is receiving such critical scrutiny; I think it's best in the long run if they start off on this footing.
https://spacenews.com/as-u-s-space-force-gets-off-the-ground-officials-face-many-questions/
 
Trump's 2021 budget request includes $15.4B for the Space Force which mostly comes from money that would have gone toward the AF budget.

For the time being, the SF is using the AF's accounting systems, which means the cost of maintaining the SF use of that asset is being put on the AF budget (which gets its own boost to cover this).

The $15.4 billion Space Force includes:
  • $10.3 billion for space research, development, testing and evaluation of technologies and weapon systems. The RDT&E request is larger than the $9.8 billion that Congress appropriated for 2020.
  • $2.4 billion for procurement of satellites and launch services. The amount is the same Congress appropriated in 2020.
  • $2.6 billion for space operations and maintenance. That is $300 million more than what Congress enacted in 2020.
  • Approximately $100 million for war-related satellite services and space operations

Big-ticket items in the Space Force budget:
  • Missile warning satellites – The RDT&E request includes $2.3 billion for the next-generation overhead infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) early warning satellites.
  • Space launch – The budget seeks $1.05 billion in 2021 for three national security launches. The Air Force in 2020 got $1.2 billion for four launches.
  • Global Positioning System – The budget proposes $628 million to acquire two GPS 3F (GPS 3 Follow-on) satellites. Congress in 2020 appropriated $395 million for one satellite.
  • Satellite-based communications – The budget proposes $789 million for satcom RDT&E.

One big change that the Space Force is trying to push through is a big win for government accountability. About 20% of each year's space budget is passed through the Air Force and to the NRO and other intelligence agencies through secret accounts. This means that the AF is effectively forced to fund these other agencies but has no say at all over how that money is spent. The Space Force wants to change this by separating out those budget lines so it doesn't have to carry them. They would still be secret, it is likely, but at least they would be clearly accountable for their own budgets and not funneling them through another agency. But ultimately some people are arguing the Space Force won't get a say in how the money is handled so who knows.

Apparently this is the first time that anyone in the DoD has openly acknowledged that these funneled funds are spent on intelligence space programs.

Full article:
https://spacenews.com/trump-seeks-15-4-billion-for-u-s-space-force-in-2021-budget/
 
I got some more background on the transition of personnel -
The act that authorized the Space Force does not allow rank and file AF personnel to be transferred over for a year. Everyone who will be added to the Space Force this year will be done on a person-by-person basis. The AF can (and is) assigning people to work with the Space Force, but this is not the same as these people joining the Space Force, if that makes sense. Also, the Space Force has been barred from taking elements from the Navy and Army as I previously mentioned, but this actually has an expiration date and already the Army is looking for ways to begin shifting personnel and programs over to the new service when the transfer ban is lifted in a couple of years. The Army has always been enthusiastic about space, even when the Air Force was reluctant.

The fact that the Air Force wound up running the military's space segment was as much an accident of history as anything per-ordained; the Army artillery corp has long supported rocketry and the earliest successful American space efforts all came out of the Army's Huntsville operation. The next successful space program came from the Navy and the Air Force only got involved after that as a way to consolidate their control of all land-based ICBMs instead of the Army.
 
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They just announced that starting with the class of 2020, Air Force Academy graduates will be able to elect to join either the Air Force or the Space Force upon graduation. The Naval academy has a similar system for graduates to choose between the Navy and Marines. They expect around 60 new graduate officers to join the Space Force out of the academy this year.
 
The DoD just announced they are going to open a process for more cities/states to formally apply to have the Space Force HQ.
 
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