WASHINGTON, D.C. (Doug Lamborn PR) – Today, Representatives Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Kendra Horn (OK-05), Brian Babin (TX-36), Jason Crow (CO-06), Michael Waltz (FL-06), and Charlie Crist (FL-13) announced the creation of the House Space Force Caucus.

The co-chairs of the caucus also invited their House colleagues to join and support the sixth branch of the U.S. military. The Caucus  will serve as an organization dedicated to educating Members and their staff about the U.S. Space Force as well as advocating on the Hill on behalf of our nation’s youngest military Service.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

It would cost from $100 million to $490 million annually to operate a Space National Guard to serve as a reserve for the newly established U.S. Space Force, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The Space Force is currently authorized to operate with active-duty personnel only. A Space National Guard would be a reserve force that would be called up as needed to provide additional resources.

By 1st Lt. Tyler Whiting
United States Space Force Public Affairs

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Exercise Global Lightning 20 successfully concluded with the most commercial partnership participation to date at the Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base Jan. 30.

This year civilian personnel from seven commercial companies affiliated with the Commercial Integration Cell supported the exercise by rapidly identifying, diagnosing and resolving on-orbit requirements, while also increasing the overall resilience of Combined Force Space Component Command operations at the CSpOC.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) — The Department of the Air Force released a $169 billion budget proposal Feb. 10, which for the first time includes funding for the newly created U.S. Space Force while also focusing funds to help both services modernize, address threats from Russia and China, and sustain readiness.

The spending plan for fiscal year 2021 carries a $900 million increase from the previous year. But unlike 2020, funding for 2021 is apportioned differently, with $153.6 billion directed to the Air Force and $15.4 billion for the Space Force.

“Our fiscal year ‘21 budget proposal helps drive irreversible momentum as we implement the National Defense Strategy,” said Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett. “The strategic advantages the Air Force and the Space Force bring to our nation are vital. This budget allows us to meet today’s national security challenges while taking important steps toward the Air and Space Forces we need in 2030.”

CNN is reporting that Russian “inspector” satellites are maneuvering near a U.S. government reconnaissance satellite. “Last November the Russian government launched a satellite that subsequently released a second satellite,” US Space Command Commander and the Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond said in a statement Monday. “These satellites have been actively maneuvering near a U.S. government satellite and behaving similar to another set of satellites that Russia […]

By 1st Lt. Tyler Whiting, United States Space Force Public Affairs 

ST. LOUIS — Space Flag, the Department of Defense’s premier exercise for training space forces, successfully concluded its eighth exercise iteration (Space Flag 20-1) at the Boeing Virtual Warfare Center in St. Louis Dec. 20.

The two-week exercise started Dec. 9 under the auspices of the former Air Force Space Command, but finished on the very day the U.S. Space Force was established upon President Trump’s signing of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

Video Caption: Vice President Mike Pence swears in General John “Jay” Raymond as the first chief of space operations of the United States Space Force.

The White House and Congress have worked out a deal that will establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Services in exchange for 12 weeks of paid leave for federal employees with newborn babies. The details of the Space Force taken from a summary of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are below. Space Force The FY20 NDAA recognizes space as a warfighting domain and establishes […]

SpaceNews reports that House Appropriators have included no money for the Trump Administration’s Space Force in a bill it is scheduled to mark up on Tuesday. Legislators are also seeking more information about the Space Development Agency. The draft report accompanying the committee’s proposed fiscal year 2020 defense spending bill notes that the decision to not back the $72 million request should not be read as a complete rejection of […]

The Department of Defense (DOD) does not routinely monitor the size, mix, and allocation of the 8,000 personnel who are involved in space acquisition activities, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

[Full Report — PDF]

The audit found the DOD’s workforce data systems are not configured to identify personnel working on space acquisition activities across the department’s sprawling bureaucracy.

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