---
title: "Report: Trump’s Space Force Could Cost Billions More Than Expected"
description: "According to a report, the proposed independent branch of the U.S. military dubbed Space Force could rack up $1.3 billion in additional costs per year"
date: "2019-05-15"
modified: "2019-05-15"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-administration-space-force-cost"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
  - "Space"
  - "Space Force"
tags:
  - "congress"
  - "donald trump"
  - "space force"
  - "the digest"
  - "u.s. military"
---

# Report: Trump’s Space Force Could Cost Billions More Than Expected

![According to a report, the proposed independent branch of the U.S. military dubbed Space Force could rack up $1.3 billion in additional costs per year](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/trump-administration-space-force-cost.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Trump Make America Great Again Committee\</em\>*

## Space Force Conundrum

According to [a report](<https://www.cbo.gov/publication/55178>) submitted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) last week, the U.S. military's proposed Space Force could rack up $1.3 billion in additional costs per year — far higher, [*Space.com* points out](<https://www.space.com/congressional-report-space-force-cost-high.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dlvr.it>), than the $500 million a year previously projected by the Department of Defense.

The Pentagon however, challenged the report's estimates. A Department of Defense spokesperson [told *SpaceNews*](<https://spacenews.com/pentagon-challenges-cbos-cost-estimates-for-new-space-organizations/>) that "the establishment of the United States Space Force is a small investment to ensure American leadership in space," pointing out that the estimates were "based on different assumptions."

## Sticker Shock

Earlier this year, the Trump administration filed its budget request for 2020, including funding for a Space Force, a Space command for the new branch, and a Space Development Agency. Also included: a request for approximately [$270 million](<https://spacenews.com/pentagon-budget-proposal-funds-space-force-headquarters-as-a-starting-point/>) for a Space Force headquarters.

But thousands of new hires could hike up the overall costs to between $1.1 and $1.9 billion, according to the CBO's report.

## Home on the Range

Prior estimates of the costs of establishing a Space Force have ranged from [$13 billion](<https://www.defensenews.com/space/2018/11/15/heres-what-the-pentagon-thinks-the-actual-cost-of-a-space-force-will-be/>) over five years by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to just [$2 billion](<https://www.defensenews.com/space/2019/03/01/space-force-to-cost-2-billion-include-15000-personnel-in-first-five-years/>) over the same time period, suggested by acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

That massive range underlines just how little Congress knows about the desired scope and scale of creating a new military branch.

"The administration has provided few details about what the three organizations that it has proposed would look like or how large they would be," reads the CBO's report.

**READ MORE:** [Congressional Report: Space Force Would Cost Billions More Than DoD Estimated](<https://www.space.com/congressional-report-space-force-cost-high.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dlvr.it>) \[*Space.com*\]

**More on Space Force:** *[Former General: Canada Should Start Its Own Space Force](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/former-general-canada-should-start-space-force>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)