The Space Force Might Get Its Biggest Budget Ever. Now What?

The FY27 President's Budget request for the U.S. Space Force comes in at $71.24 billion, more than double the prior year, and the largest budget request in the service's history. But what does a number like that actually mean, and will Congress fund it?

Read Shawn Barnes Full Op-Ed: https://ussfa.org/shawn-barnes-pbr-response/

In this episode of the Spacepower Podcast, SFA Founder and host Bill Woolf sits down with two guests who've lived this process from the inside: Shawn Barnes, who spent years walking space budgets to Capitol Hill as the Department of the Air Force's primary liaison to the Appropriations Committee, and SFA CEO Brig. Gen. (ret.) Damon Feltman, who helped build the Space Force budget structure from inside the Pentagon as Deputy Director of the S-5. Together, they break down what this request really says about the administration's commitment to space, and what stands between this budget and becoming law.In this conversation, they discuss:

• Why both guests had an immediate "wow — and about time" reaction to the top line
• What Congress will actually focus on: execution risk, empire-building concerns, and line-by-line scrutiny
• Why the $71B is Space Force dollars — separate from Golden Dome funding — and what that signals strategically
• The manpower surge: from ~10,600 Guardians to a proposed 13,200, and what that ramp could mean long-term
• How the reconciliation/appropriations split structure complicates the path to passage
• Space Domain Awareness funding more than doubling — and whether it's enough against China and Russia
• The classified R&D budget jumping from $6.5B to $17.3B, and how you defend a number you can't explain publicly
• P-LEO SATCOM investment and what it signals to the commercial sector
• Launch services tripling — and the industrial base bottlenecks that money alone won't solve
• The AMTI/GMTI mission transfer to space and whether the Space Force is organizationally ready
• A 250% increase in education and training — and why it's probably still a down payment
• SFA's Capitol Hill briefing series and how the association is helping educate members and staff on what this budget is really asking for

Hosted by Bill Woolf

Produced by Ty Holliday

Guests:Shawn Barnes, Former Department of the Air Force Primary Liaison to the Appropriations Committee and Former Chief of Space Policy, Joint Staff. One of the most experienced voices in navigating the intersection of space investment and congressional politics.

Brig. Gen. (ret.) Damon Feltman, CEO, Space Force Association. Former Deputy Director of the Space Force S-5 (budget) and former Numbered Air Force Vice Commander. Feltman helped build the Space Force's budget architecture from inside the Pentagon before retiring from civil service.

Learn more about the U.S. Space Force: https://www.spaceforce.mil/

Read Shawn Barnes Full Op-Ed: https://ussfa.org/shawn-barnes-pbr-response/

Join SFA: https://ussfa.org/

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Views and opinions expressed are those of the individual speakers and do not represent the views of the U.S. Government, Department of War, or their respective organizations.