The administration of US President Joe Biden has requested that the Congress allocate funding of $24.5-billion to the US Space Force (USSF) as part of the administration’s 2023 financial year budget plan. This was just under $5-billion more than the USSF’s 2022 budget. The US federal government’s financial year (FY) runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following calendar year, and FY 2023 will start on October 1 this year. The proposed allocation for the USSF formed part of the administration’s total defence budget submission of $773-billion.
“Space is vital to US national security and integral to modern warfare,” stated the White House in its Budget of the US Government: Fiscal Year 2023 document. “The budget maintains America’s advantage by improving the resilience of US space architectures to bolster deterrence and increase survivability during hostilities.”
The funding request was broken down into four main components, one of which was personnel costs. The USSF had 8 600 uniformed active-duty personnel, who were known as ‘guardians’, and costs covering them would come to $1-billion. The other three categories were – satellite and launch service procurement, which would get $3.6-billion; operations and maintenance, assigned $4-billion (including funding for a 4.6% pay increase for civilian employees); and research, development and testing, which would receive $15.8-billion.
A key aim was to increase the resilience of the USSF’s ‘space architecture’. “Our general posture has been to assume, essentially, impunity in space,” explained Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall (who was also responsible for the USSF) at a press conference. “We could put up expensive systems and small numbers and not worry too much about them being attacked – that era is over. This is a move towards systems that can continue to provide the services we depend on.”
Regarding specific programmes, the ‘Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared’ (Next Gen OPIR) satellite project saw its funding increased by $1-billion, from $2.4-billion in the 2022 budget to $3.4-billion in the 2023 budget. Next Gen OPIR will be a combination of polar and geosynchronous orbit satellites, plus their associated ‘ground segment’, carrying infrared sensors, to provide initial warning of the launch of ballistic missiles. Launching of the system was scheduled for 2025.
The 2023 budget request also contained $1-billion for what was designated ‘Tracking Layer Tranche 1’. That programme had received funding of $550-million for this year, decided upon by the Congress, although the administration had requested no funding at all for this programme. (Presidents propose budgets, the Congress decides budgets.) Tracking Layer Tranche 1 will be a constellation of 28 low Earth orbit satellites fitted with infrared sensors, with the mission of detecting and tracking hypersonic missiles.
In addition, the budget contained $761-million to build two global positioning system satellites, while a classified satellite communications project, ‘Evolved Strategic Satcom’, got $566-million ($406-million above its funding for 2022). A series of satellite launches (including the first launches for Tracking Layer) would be funded by allocations totalling $1.414-billion.