Military officials often repeat that space is now a contested domain. There’s just one problem—the US service tasked with space operations isn’t ready to operate in a contested in-orbit environment, according to a conservative think tank.
The Heritage Foundation released its annual Index of US Military Strength on Tuesday, and the Space Force overall received poor marks.
“The Space Force is woefully short of the resources required to hold adversary space systems at risk, and is not ready to operate in a contested environment even though conflict with a major adversary will likely begin in space,” the report says. “While most of its current capabilities are highly effective in an uncontested environment, the Space Force lacks the capacity and capability to be ready for conflict in space.”
Top level: The report overall gave the Space Force a grade of “marginal,” and predicted that the service is “years away” from being able to contribute to a conflict that relies on space-based assets. It also graded the service in specific areas, including:
- A marginal score on capacity—especially falling short in sectors such as comms, weather prediction, SDA, and ground infrastructure.
- A marginal score on capability, including being unprepared to take over missions shifting to orbit that have historically been conducted by the Air Force.
- A weak score on readiness—a downgrade from last year’s marginal score—which can be improved with more training and exercises.
What’s next: The report makes a series of recommendations for the Space Force, Congress and the administration, including:
- Reviving the National Space Council;
- Studying the Space Force’s readiness;
- Issuing a declaratory statement on how the US will respond to attacks in space;
- Crafting a national security space strategy, and updating space strategy docs first created in the first Trump administration;
- Ordering a report on the Space Force’s use of commercial tech;
- Considering organizational changes, including elevating the Space Force to be a standalone service (rather than included within the Air Force)—or combining the service with the NRO.
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The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is gearing up for a busy week.
Lawmakers on the panel are set to meet on Wednesday and Thursday to consider two major milestones that will influence the short-term future of America’s space program—who will serve as NASA’s deputy administrator, and what the agency should prioritize over the next two years.
NASA reauthorization (Senate’s version): On Wednesday, the Senate committee will mark up the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill that has been stalled since senators introduced it in March last year. Some highlights of the bill, according to a committee press release, include:
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