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Fiscal Receipts

U.S. Space Command Research and Development Support

FRDT&EPartial Reconciliation1206415F
What it is
U.S. Space Command Research and Development Support — a research & development program run by Air Force.
What changed
+$12.5M FY25→26
Who gets it
No award linkage at high confidence.

Budget Figures

FY24 Actuals
$8.78M
FY25 Total
$24.4M
FY26 Request
$36.9M
FY25→26 Change
$12.5M

FY2026 award data is a partial year — USASpending awards are reported on a rolling basis and the fiscal year does not close until September 30. why partial FY2026 data? →

Budget Trajectory
FY24: $8.78MFY25: $24.4MFY26: $36.9MFY24FY25FY26
FY24
$8.78M
FY25
$24.4M
FY26
$36.9M
Decade view — each figure cites its own President's Budget edition
FY2021 actuals — PB2023 editionFY2022 actuals — PB2024 editionFY2023 actuals — PB2025 editionFY2024 actuals — PB2026 editionFY2022 enacted — PB2023 editionFY2023 enacted — PB2024 editionFY2024 enacted — PB2025 editionFY2025 enacted — PB2026 editionFY2023 request — PB2023 editionFY2024 request — PB2024 editionFY2025 request — PB2025 editionFY2026 request — PB2026 editionFY21FY26

● actuals (line)  ·  ○ enacted  ·  ◇ request — gaps are editions the program is absent from, never interpolated.

SeriesFY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
Actuals$0$0$8.35M$8.78M
Enacted$0$8.35M$14.9M$24.4M
Request$10.3M$14.9M$28.4M$36.9M

blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.

Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $14.9M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reports $8.78M actually spent — $6.11M below the request.

Program Lineage

No predecessor/successor lineage was recorded for this program element — no FY-to-FY transfer into or out of this line was stated in the ingested J-books, and none was inferred from the program structure.

Description

Mission U.S. Space Command Research and Development Support

U.S. Space Command Research and Development support program integrates existing space-based capabilities from the Services and the Intelligence Community, overlaid with national laboratory and Commercial/Industry innovations, leveraging Joint Space rapid experimentation and demonstrations to build a comprehensive military advantage in Space. Promoting responsible behaviors in space, advocating for greater space capabilities, and collaborating with Industry partners are foundational to achieving National Space objectives. This shall be accomplished by accelerating technology demonstrations and rapid operational prototyping, plus assessing current and future space-based effects via model-based analysis. Moreover, this program supports the National Space Policy of the United States of America, "to demonstrate United States leadership in space-related fora and activities to strengthen deterrence and assure allies and partners of its commitment to preserving the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of space activities." NAVWAR, the management of PNT information, requires a coordinated employment of space, cyberspace, and electromagnetic warfare (EW) capabilities, enabled by intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) management. Funds are used to develop and integrate NAVWAR offensive and defensive capabilities and to create and maintain NAVWAR knowledge, and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) to ensure NAVWAR superiority across the DoD. Additional responsibilities include advocating for and providing space capabilities such as PNT information to CCMDs, allies, partners and other entities, as directed. The Lighthouse program shall integrate SDA net with all of the space domain awareness (SDA) sensors required to increase SDA data availability for kill chain closure. This includes upgrades to SDA coverage to reduce coverage gaps. Lack of funding for Lighthouse will result in sensors remaining on the legacy 1980s communication infrastructure whose data rates and data formats do not support timely transfer of information required to address. This effort is in Budget Activity 4, Advanced Component Development and Prototypes (ACD&P), because efforts are necessary to evaluate integrated technologies, representative modes or prototype systems in a high fidelity and realistic operating environment.

Mission USSPACECOM Rapid Prototype Demonstration

U.S. Space Command Research and Development support program integrates existing space-based capabilities from the Services and the Intelligence Community, overlaid with national laboratory and Commercial/Industry innovations, leveraging Joint Space rapid experimentation and demonstrations to build a comprehensive military advantage in Space. Promoting responsible behaviors in space, advocating for greater space capabilities, and collaborating with Industry partners are foundational to achieving National Space objectives. This shall be accomplished by accelerating technology demonstrations and rapid operational prototyping, plus assessing current and future space-based effects via model-based analysis. Moreover, this program supports the National Space Policy of the United States of America, "to demonstrate United States leadership in space-related fora and activities to strengthen deterrence and assure allies and partners of its commitment to preserving the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of space activities." NAVWAR, the management of PNT information, requires a coordinated employment of space, cyberspace, and electromagnetic warfare (EW) capabilities, enabled by intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) management. Funds are used to develop and integrate NAVWAR offensive and defensive capabilities and to create and maintain NAVWAR knowledge, and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) to ensure NAVWAR superiority across the DoD. Additional responsibilities include advocating for and providing space capabilities such as PNT information to CCMDs, allies, partners and other entities, as directed. The Lighthouse program shall integrate SDA net with all of the space domain awareness (SDA) sensors required to increase SDA data availability for kill chain closure. This includes upgrades to SDA coverage to reduce coverage gaps. Lack of funding for Lighthouse will result in sensors remaining on the legacy 1980s communication infrastructure whose data rates and data formats do not support timely transfer of information required to address.

Justification

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (7)

Contested Space Modeling for Capabilities, Analysis, and Verification Environment (CAVE)

The CAVE consists of a modeling and simulation environment that was established starting in FY22 to assist with meeting the commander's vision and the J8 assigned tasks outlined in the theater campaign plan, exercises, and operations. The CAVE modeling and simulation capabilities support the analysis of the Commander's strategic planning, wargaming, experimentation, exercises, and requirements development and analysis, and leverage work completed across the space portfolio to provide quick turn analysis efforts.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse is a classified project. It will integrate and upgrade sensors.

PNT Operational Assessments

The JNWC will investigate, operationally assess, and simulate current, emerging, and potential threats and mitigation strategies for denial of blue force PNT capabilities as well as preventing the hostile use of PNT information. Major Performers - Best value to the government selected contractors, universities, government facilities, federally funded research and development centers, laboratories, or other organizations.

Space Operations Research, Development, and Experimentation

Conduct short-term classified studies, science and technology (S&T) and Research and Development (R&D) demonstrations, experiments, and rapid operational prototyping to meet the Commanders priority to Counter Threats.

Space Operations Application Prototyping and Integration

Develop and operationalize commercial-based capabilities within the command to support the Commander's two key objectives: Protect and Defend and Expand Competitive Warfighting Advantage. This effort includes the integration of international and commercial capabilities within the command, and the stand up a USSPACECOM Technology Transfer program, which allows the Command to sign T2 agreements with non-federal entities, including Joint Commercial Operations (JCO) and Commercial Integration Cell (CIC) partners, establish PIAs to support initial transition of Command developed software applications into operational support.

Classified Space Threat-Based Studies and Analysis

To meet the Commander's objectives under Prepare and Posture, Counter Threats, and Expand Competitive Warfighting Advantage, leverage highly technical expertise from across the Nation's Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), National Laboratories, Service Laboratories, and Agency Laboratories, to provide extensive analytical, engineering, and highly technical intelligence expertise to various USSPACECOM efforts, and provide professional and qualified science and technology and advanced concepts support.

Commercial Capability Platform Integration into USSPACECOM Operations

Meet the Commander's objectives to Strengthen Relationships, capitalize on Industry Innovations to Develop future technical capabilities via Accelerator/Incubator collaboration, derived from risk-reduction modeling of space effects, and sustain focus areas where Government stakeholders, small businesses, traditional and non-traditional DoD contractors, universities, and other non-federal entities can collaborate and demonstrate capabilities.

Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)

Exhibit R-1

AccountOrgTypeAmount
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY24 Actuals$8.78M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY25 Enacted$24.4M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY25 Total$24.4M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY26 Disc. Request$36.9M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY26 Total$36.9M

Budget Details(R-2/P-40 facts)

ProjectAll Prior YearsFY24 ActualsFY25 TotalFY26 BaseFY26 Request
Program Element$0$8.78M$24.4M$36.9M$36.9M
641234: USSPACECOM Rapid Prototype Demonstration$0$8.78M$24.4M$36.9M$36.9M

No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 17 of 1741 programs). why coverage is partial? →

Awards

No awards are linked to this program element at high confidence — the budget→award crosswalk only asserts links it can defend, and this line has none yet.

Lobbying Mentions

No Senate LDA lobbying filing in the tracked data mentions this program element by code or alias.

No research dossier for this program — dossiers cover 50 of 1741 programs, the largest fully J-book-detailed lines by FY2026 requested dollars. why no dossier here? →