‘We’re Just Treading Water’: Space Force Seeks Money, Personnel to Do Its Job

Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, says the department needs to increase its funding and workforce as it takes on greater responsibilities.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 02:58 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman delivers remarks at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfighter Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, on March 3. [Courtesy: U.S. Space Force/Emmeline James]

Key Takeaways:

General Saltzman warns that the U.S. Space Force is "treading water" with shrinking budgets and personnel, despite space becoming a critical warfighting domain where adversaries are rapidly advancing capabilities.
Other U.S. military branches are increasingly dependent on Space Force assets, making them "juicy targets" for adversaries, while the Space Force's FY25 budget was cut and it faces workforce downsizing.
Saltzman stresses the imperative for increased funding and personnel to improve situational awareness, defensive capabilities, and counter-space operations to maintain national security and keep pace with evolving threats.

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General Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, is warning that the department is “just treading water” at a time when space is becoming a “warfighting domain.”

During an interview Wednesday, Saltzman told Lieutenant General David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, that the Space Force needs more money and personnel to enable new offensive and defensive capabilities. He called American space superiority an imperative.