The U.S. Space Force is allocating approximately $1 billion in its fiscal 2027 budget to construct a nationwide network of resilient operations centers, shifting focus from orbital hardware to the ground infrastructure critical for sustaining military space missions during conflict.
Distributed Architecture Replaces Centralized Risk
Brig. Gen. Christopher Fernengel, director of plans and programs on the Space Force headquarters staff, emphasized at the State of the Space Industrial Base conference that the service’s overarching objective is building a larger, more resilient force. While the proposed $71 billion budget draws attention to missile-warning satellites and proliferated low Earth orbit constellations, Fernengel warned that adversaries are increasingly targeting ground networks through missile strikes, cyberattacks, and electronic warfare.
The concern is that centralized command-and-control sites represent critical points of failure. Recent operations, including the conflict with Iran and Operation Epic Fury, have already demonstrated that space operations centers are vulnerable to physical and cyber attacks, with space capabilities targeted and destroyed for the first time.
Ten Facilities, Four Missions, One Network
The Space Force envisions building as many as ten operations centers across the United States, modeled after the 200,000-square-foot Consolidated Space Operations Facility under development at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado. Budget documents show approximately $1 billion allocated in fiscal 2027 for four centers, supporting missions including the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, training activities, and future sensing and targeting capabilities.
Three additional centers are proposed at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. These facilities will support space control, space-based sensing and targeting, and data transport, creating a distributed architecture capable of supporting overseas combatant commands while preserving continuity of operations if individual sites are disrupted.
Workforce Integration and Tactical Expansion
The Space Force plans to add roughly 2,800 military personnel and 2,000 civilians in 2027. Fernengel noted the new facilities would create more permanent Space Force presence at installations with limited space operations infrastructure, providing career-development opportunities for guardians supporting regional combatant commands.
The service hopes to build communities of space operators at multiple bases, eliminating the need for personnel to relocate due to limited follow-on assignments. Additionally, the 2027 budget includes investments in tactical operations centers dedicated to space-based electronic warfare, with facilities both in the United States and overseas to support battle management of electromagnetic warfare missions.
This shift from a handful of fixed sites to an interconnected network of operations centers represents a fundamental strategic evolution. As adversaries develop increasingly sophisticated means to disrupt space operations, the Space Force is betting that dispersion, redundancy, and integration into the joint force will prove more valuable than any single piece of orbital hardware.
— Originally reported by SpaceNews. Adapted and republished with editorial context for SpaceSecurityNews.
