Space Force Modernization Efforts Hit Snag Amid Funding Hold

"We're on this ramp-up, right, consistent with our overall strategy and the recognition that the space domain is a critical domain, in and of itself, but also for the joint force," Erich Hernandez-Baquero, the Space Force’s top buyer, told reporters.

Continuing resolution through Dec. 11 pauses new fiscal‑2027 starts

With little time before fiscal 2027 begins on Oct. 1, Congress passed a continuing resolution that keeps the Pentagon funded at fiscal‑2026 levels through Dec. 11. The CR "permits no new programs to begin," a restriction that Space Force leaders say will slow parts of the service's modernization agenda until a full-year appropriation is passed.

The budget request on the line: $71.1 billion total, $19.1 billion for procurement

The Space Force requested $71.1 billion for fiscal 2027, including $19.1 billion earmarked for procurement. Leaders say that budget would sustain a planned ramp-up of programs; under the CR, however, the service is constrained to prior-year funding levels and cannot initiate the new starts contained in the president's budget.

Program impacts: most work continues, but roughly 10 percent could slow

Gen. Doug Schiess, the chief of space operations, framed the immediate impact in arithmetic: "About 90 percent of the programs we have are programs from last year—so we can still get after those," he said. "But there's a remaining 10 percent of programs that require full budget funding ... It's going to slow us down, and the threat is not slowing down."

Erich Hernandez-Baquero was blunt about the operational effect of a temporary stopgap: "This [continuing resolution] is definitely going to put the brakes on that for a time period." He added that the service at least avoids a shutdown under the CR: "We certainly appreciate at least not being shut down. So…that's a good thing."

Acquisition reform and the unfilled technology portfolio executive role

As the Space Force pushes to speed military purchasing, Hernandez-Baquero said his focus is on streamlining acquisition paths and improving the transition of promising technology into operational programs. He described a new senior role—the technology portfolio executive, or TPE—that is intended to shepherd R&D outputs into prototyping and then into program executive offices.

According to Hernandez-Baquero, the TPE office already exists, but "the role hasn’t yet been filled." When designated, the TPE "is going to report directly to me and represent my authority when it comes to the technology transition," he said, adding that the TPE will coordinate with program acquisition executives (PAEs) and work with industry to execute prototype efforts that mature technologies "to the level where a PAE can say, ‘Ah, it meets my criteria for this onboard path, and I can go do that’."

What this means for program acquisition executives, industry, and warfighters

• Program acquisition executives (PAEs): PAEs will remain central to executing mission-area programs, but Hernandez-Baquero said they will be asked to join an "enterprise team" for cross-cutting capabilities and to accept transition-ready prototypes from the TPE when that office is stood up.
• Industry and prototype partners: Firms working on new space technologies face delayed starts for programs that require full-year funding; Hernandez-Baquero emphasized industry engagement will be part of the TPE's mission to ensure "the right pathways" for prototyping and transition.
• Warfighters and joint forces: Space Force leadership framed the funding pause as a timing risk for mission capability. Gen. Schiess cautioned that program slowdowns coincide with an environment where "the threat is not slowing down," implying a measurable operational downside if the full budget does not materialize.

Hernandez-Baquero encouraged Congress to act on the president's budget, saying the service "is obviously encouraging Congress to do what they can to help support the president's budget on that." In the meantime, he said, the Space Force will "prioritize the things that will yield the most mission capability soonest, and make sure we're executing on those."

The immediate markers to watch are procedural and personnel: whether Congress approves a full-year FY2027 appropriation before the Dec. 11 CR expiration, and when the Space Force formally designates and fills the technology portfolio executive who will be charged with turning R&D into operational prototypes under the service's acquisition reforms.

Source: Defense One — Space Force braces for stalled progress amid lack of full funding