Overview
- Gen. Chance Saltzman, who delivered his final public address on July 15, said he will retire next month and framed space as a warfighting domain that requires forces able to fight and prevail in orbit.
- Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess is the White House nominee to replace Saltzman and is scheduled for a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday.
- Saltzman urged closer allied cooperation, repeated that deterrence comes from visible combat capability rather than statements, and said the Airborne Moving Target Indication (AMTI) effort — awarded to SpaceX in May — could reach an initial capability in the next couple of years.
- House Republican leaders have signaled they will back about $60 billion in reconciliation funding compared with the White House’s $350 billion request, a shortfall that puts programs such as AMTI, the space data network, and parts of the Golden Dome missile‑defense plan at immediate risk.
- Under Saltzman the Space Force grew in budget and size and launched a 15‑year Objective Force plan to 2040, and the current funding fight could slow satellite fielding, complicate allied interoperability, and reshape how guardians carry out operations.