Space Force, Assemble!

General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force, warned last week that the U.S. is facing a new era of space activity: "The threats that we face to our on-orbit capabilities from our strategic competitors [have] grown substantially", he told CNBC. The Space Force has grown substantially since its 2019 inception: Both in terms of personnel and budget.

As this infographic illustrates, end-strength personnel in 2021 was almost 10 thousand, while the budget was $15.4 billion. In 2023. the personnel level had to over 13,500. Representing an even larger jump, Space Force's budget leapt up to nearly $25 billion in 2023.