CBO Predicts Pentagon May Spend More on Space Force Than Reported

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government may spend up to $3 billion in taxpayer money and add $1.3 billion to the Pentagon’s annual budget to establish and run President Trump’s proposed Space Force. The figure comes from CBO’s newly-released analysis of the personnel requirements and costs of proposed military space organizations. 

Defense officials have said the Space Force would cost nearly $2 billion over the next five years and require $500 million annually to operate. Todd Harrison, a budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said CBO provided higher estimates due to “bad information” from the Air Force, Defense One reported Wednesday. 

“CBO arrived at the higher number of new personnel [needed for the Space Force] in part because it assumed that no [Air Force] base operations, command, logistics, and medical personnel currently support space forces and therefore would not transfer to the new service,” he said in a tweet.

Aside from the Space Force, the Pentagon plans to establish the U.S. Space Command and the Space Development Agency to focus on satellite acquisitions. CBO estimates the new command would cost between $520 million and $1 billion, while the satellite buying agency would require between $220 million and $560 million.