Pentagon space agency to request $10.6 billion over five years: report

The Pentagon has requested nearly $11 billion in funding for a new space agency over the next five years.

According to Bloomberg, the money would go to the Space Development Agency, an organization created in March — and separate from the new Space Command — aimed to quickly create a constellation of as many as 1,200 satellites.

{mosads}The satellites would reportedly create a system called the National Defense Space Architecture. Ideally, the satellites would orbit the Earth at low altitudes, monitoring and sending data for identifying hypersonic weapons from China or Russia.

Documents obtained by Bloomberg show the proposed budget earmarks $259 million for fiscal 2021, $1.1 billion in 2022, $1.9 billion in 2023, $3.67 billion in 2024 and $3.68 billion in 2025.

The agency itself met opposition from the Air Force at its inception and the proposed budget is expected to receive similar scrutiny from members of Congress.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), both on the House Armed Services Committee, wrote a letter on July 3 citing the departure of the agency’s first director and “apparent change of direction” in the agency.

Jennifer Elzea, spokeswoman for the agency, told Bloomberg in a statement that the agency’s goal was “capitalizing on commercial space developments in small satellites and making slight alterations for military systems.”