Space Force Faces Tighter Budget in Full Year Continuing Resolution
The U.S. Space Force will operate with $28.7 billion in funding for fiscal year 2025, which is $800 million less than its requested budget of $29.5 billion, as outlined in the full-year continuing resolution (CR) spending bill passed by Congress last week. The $29.4 billion request already represented a $600 million cut from the $30 billion the Defense Department sought for the newest military branch in fiscal 2024.
The funding details were issued by Republican lawmakers as part of the "congressional intent" guidelines for the Department of Defense's $892.5 billion allocation within the CR, effective through September 30, 2025. By passing the full-year CR, Congress avoided a government shutdown that might have occurred in the absence of regular appropriations bills, which typically allow for more strategic funding adjustments across federal agencies.
Unlike traditional CRs, which generally maintain prior-year funding levels with minimal changes, the fiscal year 2025 resolution grants the Pentagon flexibility to reprogram up to $8 billion and initiate select new programs. This provides some relief from the rigid constraints characterizing typical stopgap funding measures.
Satellite program shifts
Among specific reallocations, the Space Force received authorization to transfer $30 million from the Protected Tactical Satellite (PTS) program to fund a new procurement of Resilient GPS (R-GPS) satellites. This initiative aims to supplement the existing GPS constellation with smaller, more cost-effective satellites. The PTS program, focused on developing next-generation anti-jamming communications satellites, saw its funding reduced from $597 million to $420 million.
Future budget planning underway
As the Space Force manages its fiscal 2025 budget under the CR, it is engaged in broader budget realignment efforts for fiscal year 2026. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed an 8% internal reallocation of the DoD budget, compelling each branch to identify potential funding cuts and areas for reinvestment.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman confirmed on March 20 that the Space Force has submitted its proposed funding reallocations to the Pentagon, consistent with the new administration's priorities. Hegseth has emphasized warfighting activities as the Pentagon’s top priority, including the significance of space in future warfare, indicating increased investment from the administration in both offensive and defensive capabilities.
According to Saltzman: “I think in the end, what you’ll see is that because our priorities were so focused on warfighting, so focused on the new emerging threats that everybody is coming to the realization that we have to address, that we were pretty well aligned with the new administration’s priorities. And so I think the Space Force is going to be in a good spot.”1
Saltzman did not detail specific budget cuts but highlighted prioritizing space domain awareness, resilience, and capabilities to protect against adversary assets. The recognition of space as a contested warfighting domain drives these priorities, pushing for advancements in offensive and defensive operations.
Saltzman mentioned six categories of counterspace weapons—three ground-based (jammers, directed energy, kinetic capabilities) and three space-based (jamming, directed energy, kinetic capabilities). He noted China's pursuit of similar technologies and stressed the need for investment across all categories to address various targets in different orbits.
Speaking at the Department of the Air Force Summit, a gathering of senior leadership from across each force, held at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on March 19th, Hegsworth reportedly said that, “the Air Force and Space Force will be instrumental in both deterring and engaging in future military conflicts.” In spite of the cuts to Space Force, Hegsworth added: "I feel like there's no way to ignore the fact that the next and the most important domain of warfare will be the space domain. ... So, you're going to see far more investment from this administration into that domain, both offensively and defensively ... because that's where we can continue to maintain an advantage.”2
Broader defense cuts
These budget shifts occur amid broader Pentagon spending reviews. Hegseth on March 20 announced the termination of $580 million in programs deemed wasteful, including software contracts for human resources management, grants related to diversity initiatives, climate change research, social science, COVID-19 pandemic response, and external consulting services.
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/03/saltzman-space-force-in-pretty-good-spot-regarding-dod-funding-shift/
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4127637/hegseth-says-air-space-forces-key-to-deterring-engaging-in-future-conflicts/