‘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 Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, warns that the U.S. Space Force is "just treading water" and shrinking in resources (money and personnel) despite space rapidly becoming a critical warfighting domain.
This decline is problematic as adversaries like China are developing advanced counter-space capabilities, and other U.S. military branches increasingly rely on Space Force assets, making them vulnerable.
Saltzman stresses the urgent need for increased funding and personnel to develop essential offensive and defensive capabilities to maintain American space superiority and uphold national security, which he views as foundational for the entire U.S. military.

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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.