Guest: Dr. Robert (Sam) Wilson; Topics: Sam discussed the Space Force budget in terms of priorities and long-term focus. See the paper per the tags and also posted on the blog for this program.
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We welcomed Dr. Sam Wilson back to the show for this detailed budget look at The Space Force trends and priorities. As with other programs, please use the Tags to guide you to all the topics discussed on the show as they provide a good summary of this discussion. The tags are repeated below for your convenience.
Tags: Dr. Robert (Sam) Wilson, The Aerospace Corporation, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, Space Fore Budget Brief: New Priorities And Long-Term Developments Toward A New Architecture, U.S. Air Force, military commands, intelligence, Admin regulations, significant budget increases over last year, Dept. of Defense increases, budget almost doubled over four years, Missile warning and tracking big priority, shift to LEO systems, debris concerns, EMP attack commentary, commercial space disguised, combatant command, Space Force and astronauts, communication leadership, nuclear leadership, missile warning and sat.com, tactical missions, nuclear energy and propulsion, cislunar and the Space Force, all launches through the Space Force, budget and debt ceiling issues, National Security Space, Earth vs. free space expenditures, Space Force leadership, civil space leadership, R&D, capabilities, hardware concerns, upcoming country briefs, Space Force budget as a resource for Space Force future plans.
One of the more important trends that our guest pointed out was the focus, including deployment of assets in the budget, on LEO activities over other activities in space. Sam explained this trend toward LEO and as I said, it got lots of discussion. This was also big win for missile warning and tracking which was a large part of the budget. Sam detailed the sector budget increases but also noted that the Space Force budget has almost increased twice over four years. Listeners wanted to know about a Space Force focus on debris mitigation which Sam pointed out was there plus space situational awareness. The latter will increase in importance as more traffic and use in LEO with docking, the possibility of orbital refueling, even the use of tugs, comes into being. Later, a Chicago listener asked about budget items for EMP defense. Sam said it was likely there but disguised or even classified.
Another topic of interest to me was the level of congressional support being given to the Space Force as it seems like it is so far bipartisan. Another listener wanted to know about the Space Force having its own astronauts. Not much time was spent on this question, but the answer was no, not for now. Sam mentioned lots of resources for communication and command structure plus leadership training. He also mentioned tactical missions, but we did not dwell on them. Ajay called to inquire about nuclear power and propulsion. Sam said they were not carve outs in the budget but likely buried in other areas plus other agency or sectors have more to do with those items than the Space Force. Sam talked about cislunar space with Ajay as cislunar is extremely important to the Space force.
One thing Sam told us many times over was that if you really want to see what an agency was doing, go through the lines of the budget as it is very revealing, He called out the government budget website at the DOD comptroller page for all the information needed to really get into the weeds on these sectors. Before ending, we talked about the Space Force structure with the Air Force, the increasing presence of the Space Force in all things having to do with national security and the vital importance of leadership to guide the new military unit into the future.
Please post your comments/questions for Dr. Wilson on our blog. Sam can be reached through The Space Show as well as the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation.
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