The United States Space Force is the newest branch of the United States military. Officially created in December 2019, it is also the smallest. Given its size, it has not faced any recruiting challenges in recent years and has consistently met its annual goals since its establishment.
For fiscal year 2026 (FY26), the U.S. Space Force surpassed its recruiting goals seven months early. It has exceeded the goal by 25% for recruits who have shipped to basic military training or entered a delayed entry program. Although that may sound impressive, it should be noted that the Space Force sought just 730 recruits for FY26, down from 800 recruits for fiscal year 2025 (FY25).
As Air & Space Forces magazine reported, “By contrast, the Air Force’s goal for 2026 is nearly 33,000. But the Air Force also has more than 30 times as many Airmen as the Space Force has Guardians, so proportionately, the difference is small.”
Calls for a Larger Space Force
The Space Force currently has roughly 10,000 active-duty uniformed personnel, known as guardians, with around 5,600 civilian employees, or civilian guardians. However, last year the service experienced a nearly 14% reduction in its civilian workforce due to Department of Defense (DoD) budget cuts.
Even as the service has fewer civilians in its ranks, there are now calls for the force to double in size to meet growing challenges and intensifying great-power competition.
Last week, six senior enlisted leaders for each branch of the U.S. military testified before Congress about the state of the “quality of life” for service members.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna also warned that the 10,000 uniformed guardians are too few for the Space Force to meet its evolving mission requirements and effectively confront threats from near-peer adversaries, including China and Russia.
“To effectively fulfill our national mandate, we must increase our infrastructure and double our size,” Bentivegna told lawmakers during the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee hearing. “This critical expansion is not only necessary, but entirely achievable.”
As Air & Space Forces magazine added, last year, the U.S. Space Force established a recruiting squadron that could help to accelerate growth within the service. Currently, the Air Force Accessions Center manages recruiting for both the Air Force and Space Force, but there is now a dedicated recruiting squadron within the Space Force.
Reaching a goal of 730 potential recruits wasn’t particularly challenging.
“Recruitment for the Space Force has been phenomenal,” Bentivegna added. “We have more individuals who want to commission and/or enlist into the Space Force than we can take in right now, which is why doubling the size is something I think is absolutely achievable.”
It isn’t just the service’s top enlisted guardian who supports such an expansion of the U.S. Space Force. Last month, while speaking at a conference hosted by Space News and Johns Hopkins University, Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Shawn N. Bratton told attendees that the service’s active duty and civilian workforce would more than double.
New Command Contingents
Last December, the U.S. Space Force activated the Space Forces Southern. The new SPACEFOR-SOUTH command will serve as a “space component” to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), with it responsible for integrating space power with joint, interagency, and multinational partners to support regional security, deterrence, and stability across Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
The U.S. Space Force’s space-enabled capabilities will support operations in the region, with guardians providing positioning, navigation, and timing via secure satellite communications. Space-enabled awareness will also be used to support counter-illicit trafficking operations, multinational exercises, partner-nation capability building, and crisis response.
In January, a contingent was activated in the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM). It was the seventh Space Force service component activation since November 2020, when Space Forces Indo-Pacific stood up.
“SPACEFOR-NORTH will guide development and delivery of space capabilities that enable joint lethality and effectiveness for homeland defense. Additionally, in coordination with U.S. Space Command, they will design future requirements for space capabilities or effects required to achieve USNORTHCOM objectives,” the Space Force announced following a ceremony at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In addition to the new commands, the U.S. Space Force has seen its budget increase from an initial $15.4 billion in fiscal year 2021 (FY21), the year of its first independent budget, to nearly $40 billion in FY26.
