Space Force budget holding steady in 2025 • DoD gets into the VC game

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View this email in your browser National security insights for space professionals. Delivered Tuesdays. In this week's edition: • Space Force funding holding steady in 2025 budget • DoD getting into the venture capital game • Q&A with the leaders of the Commercial Space Office If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up for free here Today's highlights: The Pentagon on Monday dropped its $849.8 billion budget request for fiscal year 2025, and the Space Force is feeling a bit of gravity. The newest military branch is looking at a proposed $29.4 billion budget — $600 million less than what the Pentagon sought for it last year. Space budget analyst Todd Harrison called it a "business as usual" budget that largely sticks to prior projections.  Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the 2025 request is "acceptable" but not optimal for keeping up with China's space threat. Among the constraints: Those pesky budget caps from last year's Fiscal Responsibility Act that could force automatic cuts if appropriations drag. One group likely disappointed: Commercial space companies that were hoping for new funding lines to tap into services like satellite servicing, debris removal and space domain awareness. The budget mostly sticks to traditional hardware and services the Pentagon already buys. Small commercially produced satellites, meanwhile, continue to be acquired by the Space Development Agency, which is getting $1.7 billion to keep building its missile-tracking and data transport space networks in low Earth orbit. Newspace companies are finding opportunities there. The Defense Department is getting into the venture capital game with its new Office of Strategic Capital. And it's seeking $144 million in fiscal year 2025 to start investing. The OSC's mission: Use financial tools like loan guarantees to attract private investment to companies working on dual-use technologies with military and commercial applications. Think AI, cybersecurity, space tech and more. The strategy, released March 8, reads like a VC firm's portfolio goals. Among the areas the Pentagon wants to back in addition to space tech: autonomous systems, biotech, quantum computing, semiconductors and advanced materials.  The Pentagon has struggled to tap into the commercial tech world. By dangling financial upside, DoD aims to get in on the ground floor of cutting-edge technologies. OSC plans to partner with outfits like the Small Business Administration's investment arm on financing vehicles like loan guarantees. The Space Force's Commercial Space Office (COMSO) is trying to change the acquisition game with their "buy before build" mantra.  COMSO top officials Col. Richard Kniseley and Jeremy Leader spoke with SpaceNews about their plans to exploit existing space capabilities, buy commercial services wherever possible, and build only what's absolutely necessary. The philosophy: "If a commercial capability out there fulfills 70% of our requirements that we can get today, we consider that a win," Kniseley said. It's about speed to stay ahead of threats. Buying launch and SATCOM commercially is nothing new. But COMSO wants to push the envelope, leveraging commercial imagery, comms and more across the board. The challenges are real: Outdated budgeting processes, entrenched culture focused on building in-house, and security barriers for bringing new companies on board. But the Space Force is determined, with buy-in from top brass like Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman and Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Frank Calvelli.  Upcoming webinar REGISTER HERE In other news 🚀 Earth imaging and analytics company BlackSky won a $3.5 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to supply satellite imagery and analysis in support of "global moving target engagement." This award comes on the heels of a research contract last year, and a $2 million award announced March 4 to supply the Air Force satellite imagery data and access to the BlackSky data analytics platform. The $3.5 million contract is the first task under a contract worth up to $23 million over four years. Planet Labs will supply satellite imagery to the U.S. Navy's Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific for vessel detection and monitoring. The company operates a fleet of more than 200 Earth observation satellites that capture images of the entire planet on a daily basis. Planet's electro-optical imagery will be shared via SeaVision, a web-based platform used by the U.S. and allies to improve maritime domain awareness. Slingshot Aerospace is opening offices in the United Kingdom to expand its space traffic coordination and analysis business globally. Melissa Quinn, previously head of the company's Seradata space data analysis team, will lead the new international business division out of the Space Systems Operations Facility at Spaceport Cornwall, in southwest England. Slingshot plans to double a team of 10 people in the U.K. this year in a push for more government and commercial customers. Thanks for reading ! Please send comments, suggestions and tips to serwin@spacenews.com Copyright (C) 2024 Multiverse Media Inc.. All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. 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