The Pentagon has approved a budget request for 2025. It allocates USD 29.4 billion to finance the country’s Space Forces. This is less than the amount requested for the development of military space programs, but still such expenses are considered “acceptable”.
What will be the budget of the US space forces
The Pentagon has released its budget request to the US Congress for 2025. The total amount of money that should be spent on defense is 849.8 billion dollars. Of these, 29.4 billion should be received by the Space Forces.
The request was made public after Congress approved a temporary resolution on February 29 that funding for the defense department would be maintained at the same level as in 2023 until at least April. In addition, there is a fear that it will even be reduced in accordance with the laws adopted in 2023.
In fact, the request is the White House’s response to all these processes. And it is essentially a compromise, which is clearly seen in the example of the amount that is being asked specifically for the development of military space. The fact is that initially representatives of the Space Forces talked about USD 30 billion that they would need in 2025. However, the final figure turned out to be less than USD 600 million.
At the same time, the Pentagon representatives do not make a tragedy out of this and call this amount “acceptable”. According to them, it is quite possible to develop existing space programs with it.
Challenges for Space Forces
However, this “acceptable” financing option is not very popular with people related to military space. And it’s not just about the “nuclear” satellite, which Russia either put into orbit or failed to do so. The United States is much more concerned about China, which increases allocations for military space programs.
The United States wants to be sure that in the event of a military conflict in Taiwan, it will have the advantage in satellites, and for this it is necessary to fully invest in new technologies, including ground-based lasers capable of disabling devices in orbit. And no one knows how this will be achieved in conditions of an “acceptable” budget.
Another issue that is acute regarding the financing of Space Forces in 2025 is cooperation with commercial suppliers. Startups are already queuing up with their innovative offerings, but with such funding, the Pentagon will clearly purchase the things it has previously purchased from suppliers it has been working with for decades. And all this does not have the best effect on the mood among private space companies.
According to spacenews.com
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