Call to order the meeting of the
Strategic Forces subcommittee of the
Senate Committee on armed services are
hearing today is on the subject of the
Space force . Uh I want to thank
General Saltzman for being with us
today before this committee . And the
purpose of the hearing is to understand
your vision and priorities for the
Space Force as its second Chief of
Space Operations . While the budget for
the Department of Defense and the Space
Force has just been released . We plan
to have a space budget hearing which
includes the Space Force later in May
after we've had time to understand and
detail the president's budget request .
There are many uncomplicated topics
such as missile warning and launch that
will take time to understand and are
not really right for this hearing today ,
but we will take up in May instead ,
the hearing will focus on you . General
Saltsman . This is your opportunity to
explain to the subcommittee into the
public how you will train and equip the
Space Force as the Department of
Defense , separate military service and
be a presenter of forces to the
combatant commanders in order to
accomplish their missions as assigned
by the president . My understanding is
that today you will explain to us , you
are three lines of effort for our space
force guardians , as I understand it ,
they are to first field a combat ready
force . Second , amplify the Guardian
spirit and third partner with the
interagency allies and industry to win .
I look forward to having you explain in
detail what each of these lines of
effort are and give us examples and
simple ones that we can take with us
and explain to our constituents and the
public the importance of the work that
you're doing . Let me conclude that
General Heighten said it best . There
is no such thing as a conflict in space
by itself . Any conflict will involve
all domains . Although I believe it
will start in space , the land , the
sea , the air and space all together at
once . I hope that today you will
explain to us how your vision for the
Space Force will meet . General
heightens astute observation and enable
our combatant commanders to accomplish
the mission that the president has
directed them to perform . If called
upon . After your opening statement ,
we will have questions at five minutes
each . Senator Fischer . Thank you , Mr
Chairman General Saltzman . Thank you
for being here today and for sharing
your perspective with this subcommittee .
And thank you sir , for your many ,
many years of service . You are only
the second ever chief of Space
Operations in a unique position to
leave your mark on what is still
essentially a brand new military
service , an opportunity like this
comes around less than once in a
generation . And I'm sure you feel the
gravity and the expectation of this
every single day . I look forward to
hearing more of your vision for this
newest service branch specifically how
you are forming it into a fighting
force that is ready to prosecute war as
part of the United States military . I
would also like to understand how you
are shaping the space acquisition
enterprise to that vision enabling the
joint force . Thank you , Mr Chairman
General Saltzman ,
chairman King , ranking member Fisher ,
distinguished member of the
subcommittee . Thank you for your
continued support for the opportunity
to discuss my vision and priorities for
the United States Space Force . I've
been listening , I've been in listening
mode since becoming the second chief of
Space Operations just four months ago .
One of my first phone calls as the CSO
was to the Commander of U S European
Command General . Casually my first
trip as the CSO was to Colorado Springs
to meet in person with the Commander of
U S Space Command General Dickinson .
My first overseas trip was to Hawaii
where I met with the commander of U S
Indo Pacific Command , Admiral Aquilino .
And during these last four months , I
have also prioritized visiting with
guardians performing vital missions
around the world for the Space Force ,
for the joint force and for the nation
in December , I met in person with
military space chiefs from Australia ,
Canada , France , Germany , New Zealand ,
and the United Kingdom and all these
engagements . My goal was to better
understand how the space force should
focus its near and midterm efforts as
we integrate our capabilities to
address the threats and challenges .
The themes from these engagements
should surprise . No one . Each
combatant commander emphasized the
vital role space plays in strategic
competition and integrated deterrence .
The guardians of the space force make
this possible and are without a doubt ,
the brightest and boldest America has
to offer because of these advantages
and our shared interest in the domain ,
us allies and international partners
are eager for expanded collaboration
with the Space Force , especially in
areas that strengthen the effectiveness
of coalition space operations and
reinforce norms of responsible behavior .
In short . Our mission forces people
and partnerships make the space force
the most formidable space organization
on the planet China and Russia know
this and are accelerating their efforts
to undermine us advantages in the
domain To meet this challenge . The
space force will prioritize three lines
of effort . As Senator King has already
stated , fielding combat ready forces ,
amplifying the guardian spirit and
partnering to win these lines of
efforts are designed to deliver the
forces , personnel and partnerships
required for the space force to
preserve us advantages in space . And
before I expand on the space force
lines of effort , I'd like to update
the subcommittee on the emerging
threats space forces face as the
handout I've provided indicates space
is undeniably a contested and congested
warfighting domain . When describing
space threats . It's important to
account for two kinds of threats .
First threats from space assets and
second threats to space assets ,
threats from space present a growing
danger to the joint force . Both China
and Russia have robust space based
capabilities that allow them to find
target and attack U S military forces
on land at sea and in the air . Equally
alarming are the threats that endanger
the satellites . The nation relies on
for prosperity and security . Both
China and Russia continued to develop
field and deploy a range of weapons
aimed at us space capabilities . The
spectrum of threats to U S space
capabilities include cyber warfare
activities , electronic attack
platforms , directed energy lasers
designed to blind or damaged satellite
sensors , ground orbit missiles to
destroy satellites and space to space
orbital engagement systems that can
attack U S satellites in space . The
contested space domain shapes the
enduring purpose of the United States .
Space Force . Congress established the
Space force to protect U S interests in
space . This means protecting us space
capabilities and defending the joint
force and the nation from space enabled
attack . My lines of effort are
designed to achieve this vision by
providing the forces personnel and
partnerships required for the space
force to preserve us space superiority
for the foreseeable future . My first
priority is to build resilient ready
combat credible space forces to do this .
We are accelerating the pivot towards
resilient satellite constellations ,
ground stations , networks and data
links . The space development agencies
proliferated . Warfighter space
architecture provides a prime example
of these efforts . We are also
emphasizing cybersecurity and preparing
guardians to detect and defeat cyber
attacks against our networks systems ,
ground stations , data links and
satellites . We are developing an
operational test and training
infrastructure that will be the
backbone of Space force readiness as
guardians prepare for a high intensity
fight . This infrastructure will allow
guardians to execute realistic training
against simulated adversaries to
validate their tactics . Space training
and readiness command executed one such
exercise last September with its
inaugural Black Skies exercise focused
on space electromagnetic warfare .
Through these events , we are
continuously enhancing tactics and
operational concepts thereby creating a
force ready for emerging threats . My
second priority is to amplify the
guardian spirit by embracing a modern
talent management process that recruits
the best talent develops and retains an
elite workforce and empowers guardians
to succeed . One example is our
constructive service credit program
that allows experienced professionals
from key fields to directly
commissioned into the space force at
ranks appropriate to their civilian
experience . The first constructive
credit board served as a pilot program
in 2022 recruited seven cyber
professionals to become guardians , one
of which was on boarded as a lieutenant
colonel . The second board will
incorporate intelligence professionals
and assess 20 additional personnel over
the last year , we have also deployed
space centric curriculum for basic
military training , the Reserve officer
training corps and an officer training
school . In addition , our partnership
with the Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies for
professional military education begins
this summer with congressional support ,
we will improve our modern talent
management system by integrating the
Air Force reserve space element into
the Space force as a single component .
This will allow guardians to transition
between full time and part time duty to
pursue opportunities outside of full
time military service and subsequently
return to full time duty without
barriers to reentry or detriment to
their career . We will ensure that such
experiences utilized in strict and and
careful compliance with federal
acquisition and ethics regulations and
appropriate conflict of interest
statutes . The single service personnel
management system will make retaining
highly qualified guardians easier by
facilitating flexible career paths and
we look forward to working with this
subcommittee on that important
initiative . My third and final
priority is to strengthen partnerships .
The Space force relies on to accomplish
its mission . The space force will
strive to eliminate barriers to
collaboration including over
classification so we can build enduring
advantages with our partners to date .
Personnel from over 50 countries have
participated in training , education
and exercise events hosted by the space
force . We're also leveraging allies
and partners to expand our war fighting
capability . Recent examples include
deploying us payloads on Norwegian and
Japanese satellites And establishing a
partnership with Luxembourg for
satellite communications services . In
total , we have more than 200 foreign
military sales cases with over 60
countries for a broad spectrum of space
capabilities . Commercial partners will
be key as we pursue emerging
technologies like advanced power
promotion propulsion technologies ,
artificial intelligence and machine
learning and in space , servicing
assembly and manufacturing space
systems commands commercial services
office is building these partnerships
to improve our ability to leverage more
commercial off the shelf capabilities .
In conclusion , thank you for the
opportunity to share these priorities
with you today . The Space Force is the
preeminent military Space Organization
in the world . Are adversaries seek to
surpass the United States and challenge
our advantage . We cannot and will not
allow this to happen . Are guardians
will outwork out innovate and out
compete . Our adversaries to ensure
that we succeed . They will do
everything they can to deter conflict
and maintain stability and space . I
very much look forward to your
questions . Thank you . Thank you very
much , General . I want to jump on the
comments you made about recruiting and
particularly bringing people in mid
career and having more flexibility
about leaving and coming back . That's
a , that's a creative idea . Flesh that
out a bit . For me . It strikes me that
that's really going to be necessary in
today's environment , particularly in
the technology field . Yes , sir . We
currently don't have the ability
because our reserves and the guard are
in the air Force , they're in the Air
Force Reserves in the Air National
Guard . So we don't have an option to ,
if you leave full time active service
from the Space Force , we lose your
expertise . And so we're looking for
anything that can allow us to retain
those people who might have priorities
that shift , but are still willing to
contribute to the service . Do we need
a Space National Guard ? So I need the
capabilities that are currently in the
Air National Guard . I can assure you
of that . I think there's a couple of
different ways to do it . Um There's we ,
we , we assessed three different
options . We could leave things as they
are , which I think is the worst
solution because as General Brown
points out as the Chief of the Air
Force , he doesn't have organized
trained and equipped responsibilities
for space missions , yet he has those
space capabilities in the Air National
Guard . So it creates a little bit of a
conundrum when I'm trying to figure out
how to train forces that are aligned
under the Air National Guard . So I
think the status quo is the most
untenable position , but there are
other options and we're going through a
series of cost estimates to figure out
what a preferred option might be . Is
one of them simply to sort of partner
with the Air National Guard and have
different units have different
functions . Is that one of the
possibilities rather than set up an
entirely new a a space National Guard
structure . Well , we are currently
partnered with the current status , so
we are currently partnered to make sure
we can rely on the capabilities that
are in the Air National Guard . It just
creates a long term sustainment problem
with the difference in organized
trained equipped responsibilities
between the Air Force and the Space
force . Me back up a minute again on
recruiting . How are you doing on
recruiting both in terms of quality and
quantity ? Some of your , some of our
other services are having real problems
with recruiting in this economy , house
Space Force doing . Yeah , I'm almost
embarrassed in front of my , appears to
say it , but we're doing very well . Uh
mostly associated with the fact that we
have much smaller numbers to recruit
and we have the ability to hand pick uh
those that decide they want to join the
space for us . So right now we're doing
okay . The problem is gonna be
sustainment over time in the quality of
the applicants that we can pull in and
then retaining them for long enough to
really benefit from their experience .
Um Turning to you mentioned several
times in your testimony , commercial
assets , commercial space assets . We
know that Russia is trying to jam or
otherwise damage the Starlink network
which is assisting in Ukraine is
that precedent making it more difficult
to partner with commercial satellite
users . One of the , one of the
strategies is proliferation and using ,
using commercial satellites is that
our what's been the reaction to what's
been going on with Starlink in Ukraine ?
So commercial augmentation is important
to the Space force for the reasons .
You mentioned resiliency ,
diversification of our portfolio across
a broader number of participants . If
you will um the
commercial augmentation Space Reserve ,
we're trying to establish what is kind
of like a craft like if you know the
civilian reserve air fleet that uses
commercial capabilities were trying to
explore , we're exploring options to
use something along those lines . I
think the key with commercial industry
is to make sure that the expectations
are managed upfront . So we're going
through a series of plans , we're going
through a series of of industry days .
If you will to clarify , what are the
policy ? What are the contractual ?
What are the legal responsibilities and
hurdles that we have to clear in order
to establish this ? So the expectations
are clear across all spectrums of
conflict crisis , etcetera . So this is
an evolving Kind of uh capability . It
is , but I will tell you that we had
significant interest . We hosted an
industry day along these lines and
there were 84 participants from
commercial industry so that there is
interest in doing this . Now in my 45
seconds left , I'm gonna ask you a
question that I get asked at home .
What's the difference between space
force and space command ? I get asked
that at home too sometimes so I
appreciate it . It's as simple as any
of the combatant commands with the
other services . If you were to think
about us , Central Command and the U S
Air Force or Indo Pacific Command and
the U S Navy uh for the U S Space
Command and U S Space Force , we simply
have different responsibilities . Um As
the Chief of the Space Force , I've
responsibility organize , train equip
and operate the forces that are then
presented to us . Space Command who has
the authority from the president and
the Secretary of Defense to direct
those operations . So you're organized
training , equip . Space Command is ,
is operate or fight . They have the
authority from the president to conduct
those missions and they would direct
our forces that are , that are
presented to them to conduct the
operations . Thank you . Thank you ,
General Senator Fischer . Thank you ,
Mr Chairman General as we discussed
last year , the next Gen O P I R
satellite program . It's one of the key
components of our future missile
warning architecture along with
proliferated constellations of smaller
satellites operating in the lower
orbits . Uh During your nomination
hearing , you stated that having no
gaps in coverage for missile warning
was a high priority . Uh The missile
warning mission is the cornerstone of
our strategic deterrent . You know , if
we can't effectively respond
if we can't detect when our adversaries
are launching nuclear weapons , um
We're in trouble and so it is very
important that we continued to fund
uh this next Gen O P I R .
I'm concerned to see that the space
force's fiscal year 2024 bequest
appears to propose cutting the third G
O next Gen O P I R satellite . Does the
space force intend to complete that
architecture as planned ? And if not ,
how are you going to mitigate it ? Yes ,
ma'am . Yes , ma'am . Thank you . The
real architecture that we need is the
one that is under that . Yes ,
it is . Can you hear me ? So the the
architecture that we really need is one
that's survivable in a contested domain .
That's the proliferated leo and
multiple orbits to include middle earth
orbit orbits as well . Um So that's
what the Space Development Agency and
the swag analysis that we did is
progressing towards . And that's the
investment we made in fy 24 to make
that pivot because that's a pretty big
technical shift . We wanted to make
sure that we for this no fail mission
had some hedges to make sure that we
didn't miss anything . So next gen Opr ,
we are committed to putting that on
orbit . Uh And we felt like a two by
two was sufficient to ensure one that
the mission did not have any gaps .
It's a no fail mission to that . It was
a hedge against any technical risk
associated with the pivot to the more
survivable missile warning missile
track architecture . You're saying that
um with this pivot to the to lower
orbits . Uh You have no plans then to
look at the GEO . Now we , we have the
plans with next Gen O P I R for two G O
and two he oh that constellation we are
still supporting in the fy 24 budget
has those four satellites in it .
That's the , that's the long term
transition to the proliferated missile
warning . But GEO satellites are too
much of a target . So having them in
lower than Middle Earth orbit creates a
targeting problem for an adversary
which actually lowers the threshold for
attack on orbit . It's more resilient
and it creates a level of deterrence
because they can't attack the
satellites . It seems like on the
major acquisition programs that are
executed by Space force have been late .
Um They have cost overruns or
both . Uh does the Space Force
acquisition community , I guess I
would say to you , how do you plan to
address that ? And do you agree with my
assessment ? Well , I've been doing in
this business a long time and so I've
certainly seen the same things that
you're noting there . So I can't argue
with the facts about cost overrunning
schedules . What I will say is I've
been very impressed with the way Frank
Calve Ellie has reorganized how we're
doing space acquisition uh with his
appointment as the undersecretary of
the Assistant Secretary of the Air
Force for space acquisition integration .
He's focused on several different
things . Buying small satellites having
shorter term contracts going with uh
well developed technology so that we
don't have as many non recurring
engineering costs . Uh And when you say
I'm sorry to interrupt you , but when
you say well developed technology , um
is that you want to make sure things
are proven . Would you say your risk
adverse ? Then I would say we want to
make sure before we commit to putting
something on orbit . If there is well
developed technology , we want to
leverage it to the max extent .
Otherwise you have to build everything
from scratch and it delays things and
there's there's requirement shifts and
it can get in that spiral where you
spend more money and delay the
timelines . So where there is well
developed technologies , we should take
advantage of those . And I think in
satellite production , that's exactly
where Mr Cavalese head is on that . And
so while again , I can't speak to all
the programs that have existed since
we've been putting satellites on orbit .
I can certainly tell you that the
acquisition community has shifted to a
different mindset for how it acquires
systems . And I think the space
development agencies acquisition
strategy for the missile warning ,
missile tracking and space data
transport layer is an example where
it's going in about four years from
order to orbit , which is substantially
better than we've seen in other
programs . Now , I'd like to call
on our only subcommittee member who's
been in space . Senator Kelly , thank
you , Mr Chairman . Um I had a couple
detailed questions and then the
chairman asked both both of them . So
I'm gonna go a little bit different ,
different approach here . So um
to the ranking members question , you
um talked about that .
Uh There's a little bit of a deterrent
by putting something at a lower orbit .
I think you said , why is , why is that ,
why is , is it more likely
that an adversary goes , goes after
something at GEO than it is if they are
at a floor orbit ,
if this sounds at all , like I'm
lecturing an astronaut , I promise I'm
not . So the , it's more than just the
orbital regime in low earth orbit to
provide the coverage , you have to have
a vastly greater number of satellites ,
dozens instead of from GEO , you can
have a single orbit that would look at
a third of the earth . So by going to
the low earth orbit , we're buying
smaller satellites and more of more
satellites creates a tart , which one
do you want to shoot down that you
think is going to be the problem for
the mission . It's just , it's
proliferated . Leo so more they gotta
shoot , shoot more rounds , a lot more ,
take out the capability . So much more
that I think the escalatory threshold
is raised to the point where they
probably wouldn't , wouldn't do it .
Okay . Okay . That's helpful general
of the N Roo Air Force Space Force
satellites . Um that we put into orbit .
Um What percentage of those is space
force responsible for the , you know ,
the contracting , the the management
management of the , you know , the
operations to get these two , they're
targeted orbit compared to the N R
O . Well , yeah , like what percentage
do you have , sir ? I let me get back
to you with but the N R O N R O has a
number of constellations for its
mission set . We have , I'm trying to
think if there's any examples , we have
the vast majority of Department of
Defense satellites have now migrated
those missions . Not all of the
Department of Defense Defense
Satellites . I always hesitate to say
all . But um but I'm struggling to
think of an example and , and how many
launch providers do you have that you
contract with currently to get those
satellites into orbit to ? And those
are uh U L A and SpaceX and
actually for demos and other things ,
we've contracted other uh providers as
well . I can get you the full number
and , and uh to date while you've been
involved with this . So we're seeing ,
you know , typical kind of success
rates and safety records from both
companies and no
identifiable , you know , problems um
with that you , that you feel puts our
satellites at risk . I mean , it's been
a while since we've had an accident . I
mean , I saw one a long time ago and N
R O satellite actually that happened to
be down at the Kennedy Space Center .
Watch this thing blow up right after
liftoff was on console that happened in
California just walked out of crew
quarters . Saw this wasn't even
expecting it , saw this rocket launch
and then explode about 15 seconds later .
You never want to see . Yeah . So it's
great that we've , we've gotten better
at this and , you know , SpaceX has a ,
I'd say a pretty remarkable , you know ,
record of success . Um You L A as well ,
we just need to keep that going . I
think it's important to be , um , you
know , just constantly trying to look
ahead and seeing what that next , you
know , failure mode is and make sure
you have the workforce that is really
tracking this stuff closely because ,
you know , some of these assets are in
the billions , billions of dollars as
you know , general . So , um I've got
another question . Um well , actually I
do have about 50 seconds . So let me ,
so space force has been around now for
a couple of years . Um I think maybe
three years that right , over three
years and some of the guardians
incurred about a two year commitment
when they transferred from the Air
Force or from another service . They're
coming up on the end of that time . Are
you seeing a good , you know ,
reenlistment rate for the enlisted
ranks and officers that are going to
stay on ? I think the day the , the
final assessment is still out a little
bit because we wanna see , I wanna see
it all play out the full cycle play out
before I really commit to this . But
I'm encouraged so far and I think we're
providing the kind of challenges that
the workforce is looking for . And so
I'm still hopeful that we're gonna be
at good retention numbers , but we
probably need to let this full summer
cycle play out before we judge . Okay .
Thank you . Thank you , Mr Chairman
Senator Tuberville . Thank you , Mr
Chairman . Um You know , you've been in ,
you've been in your position now . What ?
Less than a year , correct ? Four
months , four months , Give us your
number one priority for space force . I
need to make sure that the Guardians
are ready to meet the threat . I've
said this from day one , the systems
that were buying our exquisite . I want
to make sure that the guardians have
the training and the ability to
practice their trade , craft reps and
sets . I call it , we've got to get
those into the guardian's so that they
validate their tactics and they are
trained to meet any adversarial
challenge that's thrown at them . So
it's more training and people than it
is anything . There's a lot of
challenges . That's what I'm focused on
right now because I think it was the
biggest gap from converting . I like to
use the example that we're trying to
turn a merchant marine into the U S
Navy right , we , we have to convert
this uh space force that we had for a
benign environment into one that's
contesting the domain . Is this a slow
process ? Uh Sometimes it's slower than
I'd like , but I like our progress . Uh
So I need to buy them the simulators ,
the virtual ranges that takes a little
bit of time . But we're already
building a new force generation model
so that we've , we've established the
time to do the training , we've
established the new training
requirements and now we just have to
get after it . So space com has an RDT
and e budget of 19.2 billion And a
proposed procurement budget of only 4.7
billion . What's driving that
difference ? And uh you see that change
in the next few years , sir , this is
just , this is the way the space force
has to do its business because so much
of our effort is spent in developing
the satellites . And we don't have a
lot of , we don't have to put a lot of
satellites on orbit traditionally . So
there's less procurement than there is
R D T and E . And so I think it's just
the nature of the space business that
we are front loaded a little bit in ,
in terms of procurement to R D T and E
balance relative to what you might see
in some of the other services that by
so many versions of that thing that
they do R D T and E for fighters or
tanks or the like . And so even when we
go to a proliferated constellation ,
our numbers will be so much smaller
than , than what the other services
have to buy . Yeah , in your mind ,
what cybersecurity standards , minimum
do you think new commercial satellite
should have ? Uh I'm worried about the
ground infrastructure uh and how and
how the links are protected to make
sure that we have access to those
capabilities that are put on orbit . So
in , in commercial terms , I'm a little
less worried about the on orbit cyber
protections as , as much as I am the
ground network . And I think those
cyber protection standards are well
understood and we can hold the
commercial providers accountable for
putting cyber uh defense capabilities
onto the ground networks . I've had
several private companies
come by my office saying they have a
great idea how to take space debris
down . Have you talked to quite a few
of those ? I have , what do you
think ? I think ? Well , we privatize
it in the , at the end of the day . I
think there's a lot of different ways
to go after that sort of problem . I
haven't seen uh demonstrated
capabilities and I'm always thinking in
terms of , you know , it's one thing to
have a pitch that says we can do
something that's another to have a
demonstrated capability . Um I'll be
honest , we do a lot of , of serious
effort making sure we understand what's
on orbit and preventing debris from
hitting each other or , or things that
we care about right now . I would say
this isn't my number one challenge .
But if somebody feels like they can
demonstrate a capability , cleaning up
debris is , is an important concept as
well . It's gonna get worse and worse .
Right . It's not gonna , it's not gonna
clean itself up . A lot of people
believe that conflict with China could
very well start in space . What might
that look like ? One day the ,
the Chinese and the Russians have ,
have gone to school on us over the last
20 years and they know that we've built
a joint force structure that relies
heavily on the assumption that space
capabilities will be there . Whether
it's a precision navigation and timing ,
whether it's satellite communications ,
the missile warning that we , we rely
on and the intelligence , surveillance
and reconnaissance , persistence that
we have with space capabilities , they
know we rely on that . And so if they
can blind us , if they can interfere
with those capabilities or God forbid ,
destroy them completely , they know
that that will diminish our advantages
and , and put the joint force at risk .
Uh So I can see , interfering with , I
can see blinding , I can see some of
those gray area kinds of attacks on our
capabilities to try to put us behind
the eight ball . That balloon wasn't in
your purview , was it ? No , sir .
60,000 ft when they call it near space ,
but I like to call it far air .
Thank you , Senator Rosen .
Well , thank you , Chairman King and
ranking member Fisher . Uh Good to be
here today and holding this hearing and
General Saltzman . Thank you so much
for everything you're doing and I know
everyone's been talking about workforce
is key . We need a pipeline of
qualified individuals . Um going
forward , you're just young , three
years old trying to get this workforce
and especially like you said , research
and development critical um to protect
our country and our families from the
threat we feel from space . So stem
education , I talk about an awful lot ,
but I really believe that investing in
stem education is just essential to
matching our adversaries increasing
capabilities as you have alluded to and
also to addressing all of our tech work
force shortages . So General Saltzman ,
during your confirmation hearing in
September , you highlighted that space
force has established a university
partnership program partnering with
universities across the country to
provide stem students with research
opportunities and increased guardian
retention . And so how is space force
growth and retention benefited from
this program ? I'm really excited to
hear about that . And what can Congress ?
What can we do better to support this
program specifically ? And maybe some
national security folks focus stem
education initiatives at American
Universities uh Generally . Thank you
for that because any opportunity I get
to talk about how great our guardians
are I'll take full advantage of it . Um
you would be really impressed with the
quality of the people that are joining
the space force . Um the average age of
our enlists are enlisted , uh members
is 22 . That's a relatively high number
relative , you know , considering the
other services , uh we have an educated
workforce , very educated . Uh We , we
have the luxury of hand picking the
best and brightest of a large applicant
applicant pool that wants to join the
Space Force . And so we're really
benefiting one from the fact that we
are kind of small and we can take the
cream of the crop if you will . Uh
we're looking for diversity , we're
looking for high quality stem education
and , and going to the areas that maybe
you don't have a chance to uh to get to
uh in some of the other services . Uh
remarkable set of opportunities that
we've taken full advantage of every
time I go out in the field , I'm just
impressed with the quality and
capabilities of the guardians that I
see doing the job . We should help
expand these programs to make , it'll
make your job a little better . Well ,
as long as you expand the number of
people that helped me select , you know ,
so I think there were 42,000 hits of
interest to join the space for us and
we have about 1000 slots . So calling
that down to who's eligible , who can ,
who can meet the requirements and , you
know , there's a lot of effort there
too . So I'm real happy with the way
the recruiting team has done . I'm real
happy with the standards that we've
said , I'm really happy with the
quality of Guardians were getting in .
That's great because , um , as Senator
Tuberville talked about cyber attacks
in space and so we're fighting Domain
and , and , uh , cyber is really
probably , uh more effective there or
as effective there as it would be
anywhere else . And uh last week , we
discussed with General Dickinson during
Space Command's posture hearing that
both Russia and China are developing ,
rapidly investing in developing and
fielding these technologies that will
provide timely and uh that will
threaten us . And so we need to be sure
that we're stopping that . So these
sophisticated cyber attacks are going
to include the threat of stealing data ,
jamming satellite signals , hacking
satellites , disrupting internet
services . I know the proliferation
concept is really good because there's
just so many it makes it not worth
their while . Uh so that resilient
space architecture , particularly in
low earth orbit as you've alluded to
really important . And so what other
kinds of things besides um what you
mentioned to Senator Kelly and Senator
Tub Tub er Ville , um how are you
keeping our most advanced space assets
safe from cyber attacks by Russia China
and others and increasing their
resiliency ? I like I like to talk
about two particular areas that we're
doing first is I want to avoid
operational surprise . That's , that's
a tenant in my maybe theory of success
if you will for the space force's
primary missions and by um avoiding
operational surprise , what I mean is ,
do we have all the sensors and all the
right places to see what's going on ?
And that's cyber and space ? Um Do we ,
do we recognize hostile activities ,
aggressive activities , irresponsible
activities , the minute they occur ,
can we attribute them to the bad actors ?
That's the kind of avoidance of
operational surprise that I'm talking
about . And then secondly , we have to
establish norms of responsible behavior .
What are the norms of behavior that are
acceptable ? Uh And , and developing a
coalition of like minded space nations
that supports those norms of behavior
is a powerful motivator to do the right
things and call out irresponsible
behavior . All of that I think protects
our capable . That's great . I know my
time's up but my next question was on
international partnerships and how this
potential rates that will take it off
the record , this hunt forward
operations to avoid operational
surprise with our allies and partners
around the globe . Uh We will submit
that for the record , but you were
leading me right there . So thank you
very much . I yield back general .
There's one member of this subcommittee
who probably had more than more to do
with the founding of the Space Force
vote early and vocal supporter and that
Senator Cramer Senator Cramer . Thank
you , Mr Chairman , ranking member and
general . Good to see you again . Um I
don't think you were lecturing , uh ,
Senator Kelly at all . He asked you the
easiest question he could and you
answered it brilliantly and I think
that the issue of redundancy as a tool ,
that sort of answers , Senator Rosen's
question in terms of how you secure
them as well as how well they work as a ,
as a kill web if you will versus a kill
chain . So , um I didn't think you were ,
I thought it was , it was brilliant . I
also think you're too humble . You're
you brag about the guardians , but
let's face it . You're , you're , you
seem to be the employer of choice in
the service . You , you have that
luxury and it's because I think of the
mission , I think because it's , it's
an important mission that particularly
younger people realize and , and
they're attracted to it and it gets to
stretch them . And so my hope Jackie is
that the Air Force , the , the space
force is so cool . It just
automatically creates more stem
students because they all want to ,
they all want to be part of the next
big thing . Um I want to get into some
issue , you know , Senator Fisher asked
you about um the gap issue with , with
regard to eyes in the sky and whatnot .
We , we did see a little bit of a gap
in , in defense when we learned that
our radars couldn't see everything ,
they could only see what they were
tuned to c and so in terms of like
parks radar as an example and we see
some money coming for , for that , I
would presume that means it will be
upgraded , it'll be modernized as you
know , it's a high priority for , for
me , since we have one that's that
you're the landlord of up in North
Dakota , maybe , maybe speak a little
bit too to the role of the park's radar
and modernization and , and how that
will help you and the other , the joint
force in terms of particularly early
warning . Well , it's a two part answer
because , you know , um I don't wanna
be too distracted by the balloon um
issue because that's not where those
radars are looking . Um It's , uh you
could , you could easily build radars
that would look in that area , but
that's not our mission . The mission
that's being done North Dakota and the
other ground based radars is to fold
its missile warning and its space
surveillance uh primarily and , and
those radars are really good at those ,
those jobs . Uh So the real , the real
challenge is how do I go to a
rapid assessment and decision quality
information of the data that those
radars are pulling in ? And so that's ,
that's my responsibility is to figure
out how to take all that massive amount
of data in and quickly turn it into
decision making information . So we've
got some work to do there , but it's ,
it's more associated with the latency
of the data . Then , you know , I can
tell you where something was , but I
can't tell you where it is precisely at
that moment . And we're getting better
and better at that . Um , with regard
to some of the issues that we've
already talked about the partnerships
that , that you started out talking
about . Senator Rosen , asked about
academic partnerships , alliances ,
obviously commercial partnerships . One
of the things when we stood up the
space force and , and we had this
discussion many times and your
predecessor certainly grabbed onto it
and that is making sure it's lean agile
fast . How many times we hear generally
stay lean agile fast ? Do you feel like
you're still lean agile and fast ? Um
is , does the budget help you be more
lean agile and fast ? And I don't mean
cheap , I mean , lean agile and fast .
Those again , those relationships are
so important . How , how valuable is
that and difficult is that balance to
make sure you maintain those
characteristics ? Well , there's no
question , we're still lean and there's
no question we're going as fast as we
can . You know , that's a tough
standard for me to say we're fast . I'm
always looking to go faster . I'm
always looking to be more agile . And
so I'm going to be our probably our
toughest critic going forward trying to
ensure that we stay as fast as possible .
Um Being small does offer some
advantages , we can move rapidly
through a smaller bureaucracy than ,
than maybe some of the other
organizations can . But it also comes
with , you know , that means there's
fewer eyes on ideas , that means
there's fewer opportunities to catch
mistakes , that means there's fewer
opportunities . And so we've got to
have good solid processes , we have to
have good innovative technology that
supports us . And so there's no
question , we're still lean and now
we're trying to become optimized based
on that size to make sure that we're
still producing high quality
capabilities for a high quality
workforce . That's a great point
because because the bureaucracy can
gobble you up and slow you down as well .
So we , we like oversight , we're all
about that , but we want you to be as
agile as you need to be to , to , to
keep up with the speed of China , as I
like to say , which is really important .
One last thing just I just want to make
sure that you're , you're getting the
type of um the right policies that ,
that don't restrict your offensive
abilities . We've heard a lot about
that . You've spoken to it at some
points . Um Again , whether it's the
budget or the administration or , you
know , uh chain of command , do you
feel like you , you have the right
policies in place to both protect and
an attack if necessary ? I can assure
you there are no policies that prevent
us from exploring a full spectrum of
operations . Uh It's just about doing
the work establishing the what I would
call uh understanding of what the
capabilities can and can't do . Uh And
then we test and we , we learn from our
experiences . Thank you . Well done .
Thank you . Thank you , Senator Camera .
Your lean agile fast . Reminds me of my
high school football coach who said he
wanted us to be mobile agile and
hostile .
Ah
I'm not gonna go into our records ,
but our team motto was we're small but
we're slow . That was our problem .
Senator Gillibrand . Thank you , Mr
Chairman . Um Your budget request this
year includes a goal of increasing the
number of Space Force launches as you
look to maintain and modernize launch
ranges and facilities and support of
our space launch needs . Can you speak
to how the ability to leverage
commercial funding sources to grow
space , transportation infrastructure
and service capacity would impact the
Space Force's space launch efforts ?
Yes , ma'am . Thank you . Uh as we've
talked before , the we've grown our
capacity on our national launch ranges .
National Space launch ranges . Uh from
what I remember to be 10 , 12 launches
to we're gonna hit getting close to 100
launches a year now . Uh and , and most
of that is commercial launches and so
the infrastructure that we're providing
is being used . Uh and it's it's it
needs to be refurbished on a on a more
regular basis than it did what I call
the old days . And so the I think the
commercial industry understands this
and they're trying to figure out the
best ways to help support . And now we
just have to look for the contractual
and legal mechanisms to make sure that ,
that we can maintain that
infrastructure , our investments in the
range of the future , start us down
that path . But we've still got a lot
of work to do over the fight up . I
think to make sure we maintain the kind
of infrastructure we need to support
the commercial industry . Um As you've
said , your mission is very technical .
Um ensuring guardians are properly
trained and able to execute their
missions requires access to advanced
ranges . Do you currently have the
training resources ? You need to
provide fully trained guardians to
combatant commanders and are any
additional resources required to ensure
we have a space force fully capable of
operating in the space domain ? I , the
fy 24 budget submission includes about
$340 million dedicated to operational
test and training infrastructure . I
think that's sufficient for this year
because we've got a lot of study to do
to make sure we're building the right
kind of range is the right kind of
simulators and we're learning as we go
a little bit . Uh So I'm really
comfortable with the level of
investment . We're at this year for fy
24 last week , you spoke about the
concept of competitive endurance . From
reporting , it appears to center on
space Domain awareness resilience to
deter attack and responsible counter
space activities . Can you speak to how
the space force's budget proposal will
help to achieve competitive endurance
through each of these three core
tenants for avoiding operational
surprise . That's the Space Domain
Awareness tenant . And we are investing
heavily in new sensors . We're
investing in , in capabilities with our
allies and partners to also increase
the dataset associate with Space Domain
Awareness . And perhaps most
importantly , we're investing in space
command and control capabilities ,
which is kind of military talk for how
do you take that data in and rapidly
turn it into operational decisions .
And so I think we have good software
investments to make sure that we're
doing the decision support tools that
go with that space Domain awareness and
go ahead . Well , the resiliency piece
is also important and and this this
budget definitely invests in shifting
to a more resilient space architecture .
We've started that pivot now in earnest .
So looking on your documents , you have
this contested space document about
what China is doing . Um the P R C has
developed counter space and anti
satellite weapons including
demonstrations of anti satellite
missiles um which you say are launching
orbit to ground . Um and the ability to
move a defunct satellite . Can you
speak to our ability to defend against
these counter space assets and exercise
space superiority ? The transition to a
proliferated Leo missile warning ,
missile tracking architecture includes
the capacity to uh find fix and track
hypersonic capabilities . So that's why
that's such an important transition
that we're making with regards to
grappling satellites and pulling them
out of orbit . Much tougher to deal
with when you have less than
maneuverable older legacy satellites .
So again , shifting to a proliferated
Leo constellation where you don't have
the what general heighten called the
big Juicy target sitting there at GEO
uh make that a much tougher proposition
for them to execute against that makes
sense . Um What lessons are you
learning from the war in Ukraine about
the role of the , of the space domain
in large scale military operations ?
Well , the most important observation
is that space is critical to modern
warfare . Uh We've seen the Russians
attacks , allied communications , we've
seen cyberattacks trying to dismantle ,
we've seen GPS Jamming . They recognize
that space is a force multiplier and
they're willing to attack it . The fact
that we have to defend cyber , we have
to defend against cyber attacks on the
ground . Networks reminds us that
ground is also a part of space and that
those networks are critical assets .
But I think we're also seeing the power
of commercial augmentation that there
is a viable path for commercial
augmentation to provide capabilities .
And then I've been kind of harping on
it through the testimony here , but
proliferated Leo , that's what we're
seeing used in to support Ukraine and
it's turning out to be a much tougher
target for the Russians to take apart .
Agreed . Thank you , Mr Chairman .
Thank you madam ranking member . It
wasn't around . Thank you , Mr Chairman
General . Thank you for your service .
Um There have been efforts general uh
driven by political decisions regarding
the shared use of the 3.123 point 45
gigahertz or Essman portions of the
spectrum . Can you confirm that you
have systems critical to our national
security that reside on this portion of
the spectrum ? Yes , Senator , we have
a space surveillance radar that's ,
that's currently in development that
does occupy that's portion of the
spectrum . Would it be not just radar
but perhaps communications that are in
that portion as well as it turns out
the , the I think the key emergency
kinds of communications lived just
outside of that band . So as long as it ,
as long as we managed very narrowly
that that strip we would , we would
avoid those particular . Okay . So it's
primarily radar , it's primarily radar ,
further further space force . Okay . So
the communications portion is not , not
part . Well , I wouldn't want to talk
to the other services capability . So
from a space force perspective . Okay .
Thank you . Can you provide your
professional military advice on how
detrimental it would be to your mission
and the security of our nation if you
lost the use of this portion of the
spectrum ? I think the most important
thing I can say is I'm not exactly sure
because we haven't done the technical
analysis of exactly what vacating or
sharing any of that spectrum would look
like uh in terms of cost and technical
performance . But we do have a study
ongoing . Uh And so we would hope that
any legislative decisions or decisions
along these lines would wait for that
study to come out later this fall so
that we could make the decision with
data informed um analysis . Have you
been given the opportunity to provide
your professional military advice on
the D O D s use of this portion of the
spectrum ? Yes , thank you . Um I
presume you've expressed your concern
with regard to the sale prior to the
September study being completed . I
have described my concern as not
knowing exactly what the impact will be
until I received that study . Thank you .
Um I'd also like to go on record saying
that I'm , I'm concerned about the D O
D s approach to providing space based
ground moving target indication
capabilities , the G B M T I uh to
warfighters following the divestment of
the J stars platform . It's my
understanding that this capability is
being moved under the funding
authorities of the intelligence
community . We do not have really to
get into the fine details here . But
can you share with me how you are
assuming that the J roc validated
requirements are captured in the
acquisitions process of a platform
owned by the I C community because of
the way the funding has , has been
moved . Uh We are focusing on two areas
where we think we can provide some
detailed level of collaboration . The
first is in milestone decision
authority which still there are some
decisions which reside at the OSD level
uh and could be delegated to Secretary
of Coal Valley . We're looking into
what those options are , what the
possibilities might be . That's for
program management acquisition purposes .
The other side is the operational
concepts . This is still a D O D
mission , the space Force mission to do
this for the joint force . And so we
have the responsibility to provide the
operational concept for how this would
work . And we will have to work closely
with the program managers and sensor
developers to make that happen with J
stars . The tactical capabilities to
track these moving targets was
available to our , our soldiers on the
ground . We just want to make sure that
that same capability is still found in
a space based system and that's what
we're really talking about here , isn't
it ? Yes , sir . And the beauty of the
sensors that are being developed , is
there more survivable relative to the
current threats we're facing ? And
we're going to do it at a global scale
as opposed to a very small AO are the
way that we just don't want to get lost
and that this needs to be made
available for title title 10 operations .
These are these are direct operational
support activities . The mission falls
to the Space Force and the Department
Defense . Thank you . I understand that
there is a legislative proposal in the
works to integrate the reserve elements
of the Space force . This seems like a
logical move as your service matures
and embraces its organized trained and
equipped roles . It's also my
understanding that the Space Force's
residing within the Guard Element still
reside within the Air National Guard
and is organized trained and equipped
by the Air Force . From your
perspective , as the Chief of Space
Operations , what should the
subcommittee consider to provide the
most seamless oversight of these forces
as the space force matures first , let
me describe the reserve integration . I
think this is a very important
legislative proposal that I hope you'll
give due consideration to . It gives us
the flexibility to have both part time
and full time guardians in the space
force , which is gonna give incredible
career flexibility and hopefully serve
as an innovative way to retain the kind
of expertise that we know we're gonna
need moving forward . I think we've
done a much better job of capturing
kind of the key details that are needed
in legislation to to make that proposal
work . And I hope that we can continue
to work with this committee and others
to make that happen from the guard
standpoint . I've been clear from the
beginning that the critical
capabilities that are living in the Air
National Guard for space are must haves
for the Space Force . That's the most
important thing I don't believe because
of the way organized train equip
authorities reside with the Chief of
Staff of the Air Force and my
responsibilities that , that the
General Brown feels like he can
organize , train equipped space
capabilities inside the Air National
Guard . It creates a little bit of a
disconnect . And so the current status
quo is the , is the toughest to figure
out how to do properly . Other than
that , I think there might be some
options that are worth exploring that
are based on cost estimates in the like .
Thank you , Mr Chairman . I would just
like to commend the general . He has
taken a very direct and strong approach
with regard to advocating for our
airmen and guardians on the subject of
the missile community cancer study . Uh
This is a case of where they're finding
cancers in areas where these guys that
are basically working underground for
extended periods of time . And the
general has taken a very direct and
personal interest in seeing that this
be pursued and that anybody that's out
there , any one of these airmen or , or
guardians that they get help , they
find out and they keep track of . And I
just want to commend him and I would
hope that the committee would make
available time for him to be able to
share with us uh moving forward just
exactly what he has found with regard
to any health concerns surrounding the
cancers that seem to be more prevalent
with these folks that are working
underground in these missile silos .
Thank you , Mr Chairman . Thank you ,
General uh general . Couple of follow
up questions several times . You've
mentioned the possibility of norms
developing international norms expand
on that . Is that a realistic
possibility will the Chinese and the
Russians talk about international norms
in space ? Unfortunately , the norms
that they talk about are not ones that
we would support and they've , they've
kind of shown um a propensity to not
support the ones we want to support .
This is a battle of narratives over
international norms . Uh What I can
tell you is when I talk to my
counterparts in the other nations ,
they are interested in this , the
Secretary of Defense issued his tenants
for responsible behavior and us Space
command followed up with even some more
details . Those are all widely viewed
from my peers as helpful in
establishing what it means in a , in a
like a like minded set of nations with
responsible behaviors in space . Um The ,
we have a , we have an initiative
called the Coalition Space Operations
Initiative , which is um seven
countries that have also detailed what
responsible behaviors in space means ,
very consistent with the Secretary of
Defense's tenants . And so I think this
is kind of a widespread understanding
that we have to behave a certain way in
order to maintain a safe , secure
Sustainable Space Domain . Uh And I
believe there's widespread uh agreement
for that is the state department
engaged in this discussion as well .
They are , I think that would be an
important aspect of moving this forward .
Very important initiative . They are .
Um just to comment , you mentioned
cyber protection several times . It
seems to be the experience that most
major cyber attacks start with a sub ,
not the general contractor but some
small company of smaller firm that's
working for a general contractor and
then they get into the system . I hope
that's something when you're talking
about the protection of your assets and
very rightfully , you've talked about
ground and space that you worry as well
about those small companies that might
act as a gateway for a cyber attack .
Yes , sir . I've talked to my cyber
defenders at length . I'm not really a
cyber professional myself . I don't
understand all the technical details ,
but one of the most important things
that they start with is mapping the
cyber terrain . In other words ,
understanding exactly what the network
looks like where it might be vulnerable
and how they might best sensor it to
rapidly detect any kind of intrusions .
And so to your point , understanding
how all of the company's fit together
in the cyber terrain is an important
foundational aspect of cyber defense .
Final , final question is Space force
in charge of defense defensive . You've
talked a lot about proliferated ,
proliferated , Leo , are you also in
charge of developing the capability of
maneuver and otherwise defending our
space assets . Is that part of Space
Force's mission ? I would say it's
important that as we develop our D O D
capabilities through the space force ,
that we make sure we're applying all of
the right concepts for active and
passive defense uh to meet the
requirements so that we have a
survivable architecture on the U S
worst day and that this is a relatively
new concern . We own space for a long
time . And but the Russians and the
Chinese have been very active in uh
anti satellite technology . So we need
to be developing counters to that in
order to maintain a credible deterrent .
Is that correct ? Absolutely . And I
think it's about how fast can we go
again . In my , my weak analogy is
converting the merchant marine in the
US Navy . We've got a little bit of
ways to go before we can take our
legacy platforms that we've got so much
utility out of and so much capability
from , but convert them to providing
the same or better capabilities while
being able to perform in a contested
domain . And we'll have to make that
transition as rapidly as possible
questions . Thank you very much ,
General . This has been a very
illuminating hearing . I appreciate
your forthright responsive to our
responsive to our question and your
leadership and your long career of
service to the United States . Thank
you . Thank you , sir . Hearing is
adjourned .