By Bill “Hippie” Woolf, Founder, Space Force Association and Damon Feltman, CEO, Space Force Association
Last week, Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna delivered testimony before Congress that was as blunt as it was necessary: “To confront the threats of today and tomorrow, doubling the size of the United States Space Force is a national security necessity.”
Chief Bentivegna’s assessment marks a pivotal shift in tone. While leaders like former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall have previously acknowledged the need for more resources, the Space Force is moving past generalized public statements and now openly informing Congress of a structural deficit.
The Space Force Association fully endorses this call for significant growth and infrastructure modernization. We are no longer in a period of “if” or “when” growth is needed, but rather one of “how fast” we can adapt to a reality that is already here.
The Pacing Threat: China’s Orbital Expansion
The urgency is driven by our pacing threat. China currently fields more than 1,300 satellites in orbit, with a significant number of them having military utility, representing an unprecedented expansion. This is not only a quantitative increase, but a qualitative shift.
As the Chief of Space Operations, General Chance Saltzman, recently said, “We used to say there are emerging threats. I don’t say that anymore. There are threats in orbit.” Beijing is rapidly advancing counterspace weapons designed to degrade, disrupt, or outright destroy America’s access to space. Their goal is to blind us, sever the digital nervous system of the American military, and hold the Joint Force at risk.
This ability of U.S. rivals to challenge our economic and security interests – in, from, and to space – is a daily reality. To maintain our edge, we must move beyond the current “lean” model of the Space Force toward a robust, high-capacity service.
The Case for Doubling the Space Force
The Space Force currently delivers extraordinary results with a remarkably small footprint. In 2025 alone, Guardians maintained a staggering operations tempo. From a record-breaking 109 launches at Cape Canaveral (and nearly 175 launches in total), to providing the critical backbone for Midnight Hammer, the Space Force continues to demonstrate its impact to the Joint Force and American public. However, we are essentially asking Guardians to defend the battlespace using yesterday’s force structure and aging facilities.
To meet these demands, the Space Force must grow significantly, doubling, if not more. Space Superiority is, in fact, the Space Force’s fundamental mandate.
Every service must be able to control and exploit their domain, doing so at the time and place of one’s choosing while denying that same freedom to an adversary. For the Space Force, this is synonymous with the mission Space Control. As China and Russia expand their own space control capabilities, the U.S. must expand its countermoves. Congress has supported the procurement of new hardware for this purpose, but systems do not win wars, people do.
Investing in Force Structure: The Enlisted Cadre
The bulk of this future growth must occur within the enlisted ranks. These Guardians are the primary operators in space control missions, orbital warfare, and cybersecurity. As the environment becomes more contested, the U.S. needs a larger, more technically adept enlisted cadre capable of managing complex constellations and defending against sophisticated cyber-kinetic attacks.
This growth is also required to sustain the relentless “always-on” nature of space operations. Unlike traditional deployments, the Space Force is “in the fight” every second of every day. Launch operations, rapid constellation deployment, and commercial integration are all expanding simultaneously. We cannot modernize our platforms or deploy resilient, distributed architectures without the human capital to build, operate, and secure them.
A National Security Mandate
Expanding the Space Force is not optional. Space is the backbone of global security and the beating heart of the modern American way of life. Every missile warning, every satellite link, every GPS signal, and every secure communication depends on Guardians. We cannot expect them to shoulder the weight of the world without the manpower and infrastructure they require.
