Space News:
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is expected to request approximately $270 million in its fiscal year 2020 budget to stand up a Space Force headquarters, a Space Development Agency and U.S. Space Command, according to draft documents.
The amount is modest compared to multibillion-dollar estimates that have been floated in the past several months. The 2020 request would cover the cost of setting up the Space Development Agency, U.S. Space Command and the Space Force headquarters — if and when Congress authorizes the establishment of the new branch. The Pentagon projects that the Space Force budget will increase over the next several years due to mission demands.
In the 2020 budget, the Pentagon would request $64 million to stand up the Space Force headquarters, $120 million for the Space Development Agency and $84 million for U.S. Space Command — $76 million of which would be transferred from existing accounts. These numbers are from a draft memo that the Pentagon’s cost assessment and program evaluation office, known as CAPE, circulated in late December to inform the 2020 budget request and the Space Force legislative proposal.
