A draft of the 2016 defense authorization bill would add national space security to the U.S. Defense Department‘s Major Force Programs, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.
Colin Clark writes Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, the U.S. Air Force deputy for acquisition, said DoD and the intelligence community plan to invest in programs to safeguard space-based assets over the next five years.
The move follows the agency’s review of the U.S. space posture last summer, according to the report.
“We can no longer assume that we won’t be engaged in protecting our capabilities in space against attempts to deny us those capabilities,” Pawlikowski told Breaking Defense.
An HASC staffer told reporters Wednesday that DoD requested for an extra $5 billion budget for space defense efforts during a recent congressional hearing.
The committee is scheduled to markup the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act next week.
