{"id":39305,"date":"2019-02-19T19:11:26","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T19:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/19\/trump-signs-off-on-organizing-the-space-force-under-the-air-forcefor-now\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:14:15","slug":"trump-signs-off-on-organizing-the-space-force-under-the-air-forcefor-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2019\/02\/19\/trump-signs-off-on-organizing-the-space-force-under-the-air-forcefor-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump officially organizes the Space Force under the Air Force &#8230; for now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a directive centralizing all military space functions under a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/06\/19\/trump-wants-a-space-force-now-what\/\" target=_blank>new Space Force<\/a>, which will be overseen by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/12\/13\/will-the-space-force-sit-under-the-department-of-the-air-force-the-pentagon-finally-has-an-answer\/\" target=_blank>Department of the Air Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it is technically up to Congress to approve the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/10\/23\/pentagon-presents-recommendations-on-space-force-to-trump\/\" target=_blank>creation of the Space Force<\/a>, a sixth military branch that would organize, train and equip a corps of military space personnel, Trump\u2019s signing of Space Policy Directive 4 marks the first time the administration has made clear <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/12\/18\/trump-signs-order-to-create-us-space-command\/\" target=_blank>how the new service would fit into the existing military structure<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday, I\u2019m thrilled to sign a new order taking the next step to create the United States Space Force,&#8221; Trump said during the signing ceremony. &#8220;So important, when you look at defense, when you look at all of the other aspects of where the world will be someday. I mean, this is the beginning. This is a very important process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to SPD-4, the Space Force will initially reside under the Department of the Air Force and it will be led by a civilian undersecretary of the Air Force for space as well as a four-star general serving as the Space Force chief of staff \u2014 a measure that is less ambitious than the stand-alone service <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/06\/18\/trump-orders-creation-of-independent-space-force\/\" target=_blank>originally envisioned by the president<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/12\/20\/trumps-new-space-force-to-reside-under-department-of-the-air-force\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4988035.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump\u2019s new Space Force to reside under Department of the Air Force<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The new service will be overseen by the newly created undersecretary of the Air Force for the Space Force and a Space Force chief of staff, who will sit on the Joint Chiefs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An Air Force-led space service is thought to be more palatable to congressional critics, and coincides with draft versions of the legislative proposal that circulated throughout the Pentagon over the past months, which Defense News first reported on in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, an administration official who spoke to reporters Tuesday morning maintained that putting the new service under the Air Force was \u201ca step toward a future separate military department for space\u201d and that the administration would make periodic reviews to see when it would make sense to deliver a second legislative proposal calling for a separate Department of the Space Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the biggest congressional critics of a separate space service, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, released a statement seemingly in support of SPD-4. That would be a massive reversal from his previous stance, which saw Turner trying to block legislation to stand up a Space Corps in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday\u2019s signing of the Space Policy Directive \u2013 4 is the first step in a process which may create the capabilities we need to ensure our success in the domain of space,\u201d said Turner, who is the top Republican on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I believe it is important that space capabilities remain under the Air Force\u2019s domain As we look towards Congress\u2019s responsibility in legislating further on this issue, I look forward to working with my counterparts on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee to ensure that the President\u2019s proposal satisfies our space needs, is cost effective, and results in increased capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SPD-4 stipulates that all uniformed and civilian personnel currently supporting space operations will funnel into the Space Force. That means that certain Army and Navy personnel could find themselves in a new service under the discretion of the Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe don\u2019t anyone to be hurt if they transfer over into the Space Force,\u201d the administration official said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be moving, I think, fairly slowly, focusing on the headquarters functions to begin with, and then there will a lot of activity that will simply be moved over for people doing space operations. Then we will be laying out career tracks for people farther up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, intelligence agencies like the National Reconnaissance Office will continue to reside separately from the Space Force, as will agencies like NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s still unclear <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/08\/09\/no-answers-yet-on-cost-structure-of-space-force\/\" target=_blank>how much it will cost to stand up the service<\/a>. The senior administration official told reporters that initial costs would amount to less than $100 million on top of what the services already budgeted to carry out space operations, but there may be a need to increase funding for military space activities in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we take more aggressive actions for building up resiliency of our systems, creating counter-space capabilities and counter adversary threats, those things will cost more money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In September, the Air Force released its own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2018\/09\/17\/air-force-secretary-space-force-will-come-with-13b-in-added-costs\/\" target=_blank>$13 billion estimate<\/a> of the costs over the next five years to stand up both a Space Force and a U.S. Space Command, a unified combatant command that will oversee space operations. That proposal also would integrate elements of NRO with the Space Force \u2014 a path of which the administration opted out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said she stands by that estimate, even as Patrick Shanahan, now the acting secretary of defense, contends that creating a Space Force <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/11\/19\/space-force-could-cost-fraction-of-air-force-estimates\/\" target=_blank>could cost less than $5 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/11\/15\/heres-what-the-pentagon-thinks-the-actual-cost-of-a-space-force-will-be\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/space-force-Atlas.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Here\u2019s what the Pentagon thinks the actual cost of a Space Force will be<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Hint: It&#039;s less than the $13 billion the Air Force says it needs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During an event at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday morning, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein confirmed that the president would sign off on a plan laying out how the Space Force would be organized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the most important step to move space operations forward, Goldfein argued, is to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/12\/18\/trump-signs-order-to-create-us-space-command\/\" target=_blank>set up a U.S. Space Command <\/a>led by a four-star combatant commander \u2014 a move that does not need the approval of Congress and is separate from the Space Force directive.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2019\/01\/29\/shanahan-has-identified-space-command-head\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/37721336822_f40014044a_k.jpg_a238f2.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Shanahan has identified top pick to lead Space Command<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Additional details on Space Command, including where it will be based, are expected to be shared around the release of the FY20 budget.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat\u2019s going to roll out today is a service within the Department of the Air Force,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a thousand decisions that have to be made to be able to work to the intricate details of how we move forward in establishing the service within the Department of the Air Force. But essential to me though, first and foremost, is the combatant command.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As only Congress can create a new branch of the military, the administration\u2019s next step is putting forward a \u201clegislative proposal\u201d that the House and Senate can consider passing into law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re going to get the proposal up to them as soon as we can. Initial informal conversations, I think, have been very encouraging,\u201d the administration official said. \u201cI think it can get done this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump apparently agreed, telling reporters that he expects the Space Force proposal to have \u201cgreat support\u201d from Congress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump has signed a directive centralizing all military space functions under a new Space Force, which will be overseen by the Department of the Air Force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":34388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":23,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","middle-column","home","pentagon-congress","left-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home","middle-column","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"},"5":{"categories":["your-army","news","middle-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"your-army"},"6":{"categories":["your-marine-corps","news","middle-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"},"7":{"categories":["your-navy","news","middle-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"your-navy"},"8":{"categories":["leadership","management","home","daily-brief","newsletters","acquisition-update"],"primary_category":"leadership"},"9":{"categories":["satellites","c2-comms","home","daily-brief","newsletters"],"primary_category":"satellites"}}},"categories":[160,163,36,19,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-39305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-space-report","category-newsletters","category-pentagon","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2CWVJRMSJVCLXAAA7E5P7FHUPY","arc_canonical_url":"\/space\/2019\/02\/19\/trump-signs-off-on-organizing-the-space-force-under-the-air-forcefor-now\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump officially organizes the Space Force under the Air Force ... for now - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Donald Trump has signed a directive centralizing all military space functions under a new Space Force, which will be overseen by the Department of the Air Force.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump officially organizes the Space Force under the Air Force ... for now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump has signed a directive centralizing all military space functions under a new Space Force, which 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