Space Force Shakes Up Acquisition Again in Effort to Achieve Efficiencies
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
The Space Force confirmed that it will reorganize space acquisition and space policy authorities starting Oct. 18 in an effort to streamline decision-making in line with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s plan announced in August.
As first reported by Breaking Defense on Oct. 15, the Department of the Air Force described a plan to break out space policy from the as-yet unnamed space acquisitions chief. The move would reduce the number of personnel required to sign off on policy decisions by transferring space policy to the Chief of Space Operations and the Secretary of the Air Force.
In August, Kendall described his plan to consolidate the Space Acquisition Directorate from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, or SAF/AQ, into a new organization, Space Acquisition and Integration, or SAF/SQ. Space acquisition policy remains within SAF/SQ, while broader space policy moves to Space Force and responsibility for international affairs shifts to the deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for international affairs, or SAF/IA.
Kendall in August named Brig. Gen. Steven P. Whitney to head the space acquisitions office until an assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration is named. Whitney has managed the reorganization pending the appointment of that new civilian leader.
Congress has for months railed against the slow pace of space acquisitions reform and the absence of a civilian chief. In a July report, the House Appropriations Committee claimed the Air Force was dragging its feet.
“The committee remains concerned that the Air Force has not taken more aggressive action in addressing long-standing space acquisition issues,” the report read.
Lawmakers also said the Air Force had “made little progress in defining what the Space Force will be doing that is fundamentally different than when it was a component of the Air Force.”
On Sept. 20 at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space & Cyber (ASC) Conference, both Kendall and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond expressed confidence in the reorganization of space acquisition, even though an assistant secretary had not yet been named.
“We’re actually interviewing people right now for the space acquisitions assistant secretary position,” Kendall said at the ASC media briefing, foreshadowing the office reorganization and personnel movement. “So, it’s moving forward. I’m reasonably happy with the pace.”
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
Related Content
The Senate passed its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization bill late Oct. 9 with new language restricting retirements for B-1 bombers and E-3 AWACS. Now lawmakers from the House and Senate must set about resolving the differences between their two bills, which could lead to significant changes for…
The Space Force wants access to a fleet of small, maneuverable commercial satellites that can provide a range of services from geosynchronous orbit, chiefly satellite communications.
Space Force leaders are advocating for reforms to the Pentagon’s foreign military sales process to better handle a surge in requests from international partners to buy U.S.-made military space systems.
The Space Force has a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to change the way it develops and delivers space capabilities, said Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman at AFA’s Air, Space, and Cyber Conference, and Congress is poised to help make that possible.
Firefly Aerospace, the small launch company that helped the Space Force send a satellite into orbit on a record-fast timeline, plans to acquire software and data company SciTec in an $855 million deal that will further its reach in the defense market.
The Space Force issued contracts to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance worth more than $1 billion to launch military space missions starting in fiscal 2027.
The Space Force is running out of room at its launch ranges in Florida and California and is looking to expand its government and commercial spaceport partnerships to accommodate growing launch demand.
U.S. researchers and military contractors are working on new tools to protect space operations from cyber attackers, and one company has launched a satellite to serve as an on-orbit cyber range to test out defenses, speakers said at the AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber conference last week.
A half-dozen Air Force and Space Force major generals have been nominated for three-star jobs, including new bosses for Air Education and Training Command and Space Forces-Space.