US Air Force Analysis: Space Force To Cost $13 Billion Over Five Years Written 21 February 2019

AP reports that the US Air Force released a plan Friday detailing a potential roadmap for creating the Space Force as a separate service, estimating that doing so would cost the Trump Administration $3.3 billion in the first year and $12.9 billion in the new branch’s first five years. The Air Force’s number is the “first publicly available cost estimate.” In the September 14 memo, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson wrote, “Strategic competition with Russia and China is the focus of our approach.” The Air Force believes that the proposed Space Force would be “organized under a civilian secretary appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, along with an undersecretary, four assistant secretaries, a chief lawyer, an inspector general and a legislative liaison.” A four-star general would serve as the service’s chief of staff.
More Info (Associated Press)