WASHINGTON — When the United States Space Force was first created, one of its early recruiting ads showed uniformed service members standing watch in spacesuits, gazing over Earth from orbit. The imagery drew criticism for suggesting a military presence in space that did not exist.
Six years later, that remains the case. The Space Force operates satellites, provides missile warning and GPS services, and monitors activity in orbit. It does not deploy armed personnel to space, and there are no plans to do so.
But at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium Feb. 24, senior officers and commercial executives suggested the question may not be permanently settled.
“I can’t sit here today and tell you that we will or we won’t have guardians in space at any point in the future,” said Maj. Gen. Robert Claude, mobilization assistant to the Chief of Space Operations.
Claude said the service’s force design process, directed by Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, looks 15 years ahead to assess how the strategic landscape could evolve. Human spaceflight is not a Space Force mission today, he said, but the planning framework is designed to adapt if new requirements emerge.
Kyle Pumroy, senior fellow for space studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said that while there are still no plans to station armed personnel in orbit, “such a capability may very well be required as the domain becomes more mature.”
The discussion comes as commercial companies move to build privately operated space stations intended to replace the International Space Station after its retirement in the early 2030s.
‘Military follows commerce’
Executives from Starlab Space and Vast Space said their platforms could support military needs if the government ever decided to establish a presence in low Earth orbit.
“The military always follows commerce,” said Tom Ayres, general counsel of Starlab Space.
Starlab, a joint venture led by Voyager Technologies and Airbus, is developing a free-flying commercial station designed to maintain continuous human presence in low Earth orbit after the ISS is decommissioned. Ayres argued that the strategic implications extend beyond research and manufacturing.
“The Chinese are moving forward,” he said. “If we don’t move forward, we’re going to be left behind,” not only in low Earth orbit but also in future resource extraction from asteroids, the moon and Mars.
Andrew Feustel, lead astronaut at Vast Space, said the commercial sector is entering what he described as an inflection point. Vast is developing space stations capable of artificial gravity, aimed at supporting long-duration human presence and research, including pharmaceutical development.
“We should consider that there’s an opportunity now which never existed before, with a civil space program and a civil space station, to actually put hardware in space that can support warfighters there as well,” Feustel said.
As more capital flows into orbital infrastructure, he added, protecting those assets could become a priority. “The space station, these low Earth orbit platforms, offer a unique operating base that we really haven’t been able to take advantage of in the last three decades because of the way our space program has been structured,” he said.
Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Shawn Bratton, speaking recently in Washington, pointed to the growing importance of the cislunar region between Earth and the moon. From a military perspective, he said, activity there could affect missile warning, space domain awareness and the protection of satellites operating far from Earth, where monitoring and defense are more difficult.
Even without current plans to deploy personnel, Bratton suggested the possibility should not be dismissed over the long term. “It would be tragic if that didn’t happen someday,” he said.
Pathways available for guardians
Inside the service, officials are taking incremental steps to preserve optionality. Brig. Gen. Matthew Cantore, deputy commander of Space Training and Readiness Command, said the Space Force maintains a liaison program with NASA so guardians can gain experience in the planning and ground operations side of human spaceflight.
“We are a service custom built for space superiority,” Cantore said. “I don’t think the two are completely disconnected, though. At some point they are going to come together. It’s a question of when.”
He said a future need could arise if the “character of war shifts” or if control of critical terrain in orbit demands a human presence.
Brig. Gen. Nick Hague, assistant deputy chief of space operations and a former NASA astronaut who flew two missions to the International Space Station, underscored that a pathway already exists for guardians who want to go to space.
“We’ve got an executive order that says the Department of War and NASA need to work together and collaborate,” Hague said. “So I need guardians to apply. I need guardians to be part of that program.”
To improve competitiveness, the Space Force has created a year-long test pilot school program comparable to the Air Force’s. NASA has historically selected military test pilots as astronauts because they are trained to manage risk and operate in small teams under pressure.
“You don’t have to wait for us to stand up an astronaut training pipeline for guardians alone,” Hague said. “You can pursue your dreams and make that a reality today.”
