Three Essential Truths Space Force Must Never Forget

High level budget allocation or “top lines” are typically ordered down from the Executive Office of the President to each department or agency, or via legislation from the Congress to the President for his signature. Either way, they are political by design and once decided – inescapable reality. No matter how vehemently the trade associations, news pundits, beltway bandits, and even the rogue general may describe the awful consequences of whatever budget the President is proposing, it does not make these so-called talking heads right or even relevant.

The most recent harrumphing began last year when the Air Force Association assessed that “new investment in the Space Force is less than it appears,” since much of the top line increase came from the Space Development Agency, absorbed by the Space Force last year. The yearly cry from the renamed “Air & Space Force Association” critiques that it isn’t enough, but that will be the least of their worries once President Biden delivers his 2024 budget request. Congressional appropriators are already voicing concern that his 2024 and beyond budget top lines will likely drop for the still toddling Space Force.

It’s all still just corporate and political posturing, sausage-making in Washington parlance. Space Force leadership ought to follow in the footsteps of its sister services and stay out of the political decisions and instead do the hard work to adjust to them. The bottom-line is espoused in three truths – three things unique to the space economy that will ensure our Space Force is best equipped for challenges that lie ahead, which we must focus our finite finances and time on in the near-term.

First, deployment of private capital is by far the most efficient way to fund innovation. Contrary to conventional wisdom inside the Pentagon, there is far more investment capital available for R&D outside Washington than within – it just needs the right signals to guide smart investments. One need only look at the pace of innovations in this industry in the last decade – from proliferated small satellites at a fraction of the cost of their predecessors to reusable rockets that land themselves – to see its value.

Second, leveraging “off the shelf” solutions is the fastest way to deploy relevant capabilities. Acquisition leaders must encourage their staff to maintain a thorough technical knowledge and understanding of what is currently available from vendors and promote the staffers who can collaborate with them to meet the field commanders’ needs today. SpaceX’s nearly instantaneous deployment of a robust Starlink communication system and addressing unexpected Russian cyber-attacks are recent operational examples of how quickly existing capabilities can be deployed or redirected. What SpaceX did in weeks would have taken the Pentagon well over a decade to deploy – and even then, only with the full support of Congress. The same mindset needs to be employed for surveillance satellites, more secure communications, and enhanced space battle intelligence.

Third, paying for costs incurred, known as cost-plus contracting, only incentivizes more costs. Alternatively, paying contractors upon delivery of an actual product or service rewards what the warfighter needs most. With space solutions largely pulled from creative combinations of largely off the shelf components, products, or services funded by private development, there is very little financial risk to either the Space Force or the vendor.

The good news is that the US Space Force was created at the same time as the private sector and its investors are delivering off the shelf capabilities at a fraction of the cost. Highly advanced space technology and integrated solutions are available for immediate delivery to ensure we keep ahead of our international counterparts and deliver within the tight fiscal constraints that our times demand. We must leverage the full might of the small satellite manufacturing capacity of the country to occupy the orbital and spectrum regimes that are still open before China outpaces us.

The days when every space system had to be government-developed are over. The ever-changing nature of the commercial space industry necessitates a revised perspective on space acquisition. We can solve our current operational space deficiencies with off the shelf solutions, just like we recently proved possible in Ukraine. The time has come to reward delivery because spending scarce taxpayer dollars developing systems to launch a decade from now is not as useful as delivering something on orbit this year.

Remembering these three truths as the Space Force and Congress rework their business processes for the new era will ensure that whatever budget our politicians agree to will be more than enough to fund a robust Space Force, enhance the commercial space economy, and win the economic Space Race.