Air Force Materiel Command’s latest restructuring plan (see above), announced Tuesday, would reduce the number of its centers from 12 to five, as officials strive to cut overhead costs and eliminate redundancy. The restructure will eliminate 1,051 civilian positions and will allow the command to reduce another 1,088 civilian positions as installation support functions begin to streamline, according to the release. This is expected to save the Air Force about $109 million annually. “We’ll approach our business in a more integrated fashion rather than thinking separately about research, test, acquisition, or sustainment in a center-by-center, base-by-base mindset,” said Gen. Donald Hoffman, AFMC commander. “The restructure will drive us to more standardized processes.”
A new White House policy calls for the Pentagon to craft plans for additional space launch facilities to support a projected increase in launch demand that could see the U.S. supporting as many as 1,000 launches by 2030, more than a fivefold increase from 2025.