The ability of USAF to collaborate with allies, industry, academia, and other services around a unified space mission is gaining momentum, according to a panel on interoperability in space at ASC16. Thanks in part to “strong global partnerships and alliances,” a “level of coherence at the senior decision-making level” has focused space operations around the critical category of “threat,” said Winston Beauchamp, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for Space. Crucial in producing this missional consensus has been a shift toward thinking of space “as an operational domain” where “potential adversaries are testing capabilities against our space assets,” Beauchamp added. While admitting that challenges remain—especially in sharing information across widely varying levels of classification—Beauchamp was optimistic enough about the progress to discount the necessity of a new unified US Space Command. Such a reorganization would mean time wasted “arguing about office space instead of how to protect space,” according to Beauchamp.
House, Senate Unveil Competing Proposals for 2026 Budget
July 11, 2025
Lawmakers from the House and Senate laid out competing versions of the annual defense policy bill on July 11, with vastly different potential outcomes for some of the Air Force’s most embattled programs.