MARCH 4, 2025 – Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman spelled out the Space Force’s priorities and the path it must follow to ensure space superiority during a high-profile keynote address March 3.
“It is our job to contest and control the space domain, to fight and win so that we assure freedom of action for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries,” Saltzman told Guardians, Airmen, industry partners and elected officials in closely watched remarks at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfighter Symposium.
If that wasn’t clear enough, Saltzman offered additional clarity moments later on why maintaining dominance in space is essential to the nation’s security and economic well-being.
“Fighting against a near-peer threat that has unfettered access to space while we do not is a recipe for death and destruction,” he said. “Even in a stalemate, where both we and our adversaries retain spacepower, there will be an unacceptable cost in American blood and treasure.”
Saltzman said the goal is achieving “space control,” the service’s newest core function that captures how Guardians achieve space superiority. “Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain – employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities, from disruption to degradation to destruction,” he said.
“It includes things like orbital warfare and electromagnetic warfare, and its counterspace operations can be employed for both offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commanders. If we’re going to truly embrace our status as space warfighters, then we need to also embrace our fundamental responsibility for space control,” he said.
Saltzman also said, that perfecting the Space Force is an urgent endeavor that requires nimble change and performance. “Transform into a warfighting service now – the nation needs us. The enemy is not waiting. We must succeed. We will succeed because so much is riding on our success,” he said.
Saltzman’s underlying points were consistent with those he has emphasized since becoming the service’s ranking military leader in October 2022. The Space Force was born on Dec. 20, 2019, in recognition that every aspect of military life and operations, whether on land, sea, air or cyber, has a direct connection to space. The joint force cannot operate without the capabilities provided through space, nor can modern commerce.
The nation’s economy, its infrastructure, banking system and communication all depend on space to operate and thrive.
Given that central role, Saltzman said the United States and its allies must have confidence that they can operate – and survive – without fail in an environment that has become more crowded and adversarial.
“I’ve said that we must think of space as a warfighting domain rather than just a collection of support functions. That the Space Force must organize, train, equip and conduct warfighting operations as an integral part of the joint and combined force,” Saltzman said.
“For this reason, Guardians are the warfighters with the unique education, training and experience required to achieve space superiority. … Space superiority is the reason that we exist as a service, and the vagaries of warfighting must inform everything we do if we are going to succeed,” he said.
Even with that clarity of mission and purpose, Saltzman acknowledged more is needed. “The Space Force we have is still not the Space Force we need. We have come a long way, but I think we can all acknowledge there is still work to be done,” he said.
Saltzman highlighted some of the efforts and programs designed to push the service’s evolution faster and with more precision. One example he highlighted is Integrated Mission Deltas, organizations which combine operations, capabilities development and sustainment to enhance delivery of combat effects.
Four have been created to date, with more planned. “They empower mission owners with the authority and resources they need to oversee their readiness,” Saltzman said.
Soon-to-be working in tandem are units called System Deltas that are designed to focus acquisition activities within mission areas to further enhance delivery and collaboration.
To ensure a steady stream of high-caliber, effective leaders, Saltzman said, the Space Force has taken a novel approach to training by creating the Officer Training Course, which provides a 12-month initial skills training for new officers that provides a foundational understanding of all elements of spacepower.
“Once they graduate, junior officers will have the baseline understanding of all disciplines needed for effective mission operations. In the future, regardless of their career path, all officers will have the training and experience to speak fluently and engage collaboratively across all essential functions of U.S. Space Force missions,” he said.
One other critical piece, Saltzman said, is the formation of Space Futures Command, which is designed to be “a long-term, institutional mechanism to ensure our technical advantage.”
This command will be the leading edge in designing “the Objective Force – to envision, validate and describe in detail the force we need to win wars and maintain our space advantage into the future,” he said.
Even with that clarity of mission and purpose, Saltzman acknowledged more is needed.
“The Space Force we have is still not the Space Force we need. We have come a long way, but I think we can all acknowledge there is still work to be done,” he said.
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs