The National Guard continues to push for a new space-focused component as the Army continues to consolidate its new domain-focused military branch.

There has been a lot of debate about whether there should be a Space National Guard to be associated with the Space Force. Concerns about funding and the need for state-use space operations dominated most of the conversation.

The final selling point for putting the component in place is that the initial cost would only be about a quarter of a million dollars, according to Col. Adam Rogge, commander of 233^rd Colorado Air National Guard Space Group. The price to be paid is equivalent to a tear in the ocean of the Defense budget.

“Air National Guard space forces are an untenable posture and the Air National Guard is out of alignment and dependent on the Air Force service no longer flying space missions,” Rogge said during a Friday roundtable with journalists. “This misalignment has resulted in increased bureaucracies, broken standards and training, a lack of unified planning control, and will ultimately degrade readiness as our nation seeks to increase space capabilities. Simply put, it’s not sustainable.

Rogge said the necessary funds would go to things like uniforms. Rogge added that there would be no growth upon establishment.

However, many have questioned whether states really need space capabilities.

Kaitlyn Johnson, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tweeted in May that she thought the component was a bad idea.

“Why would a governor ever need satellite operators to support their national/local issues? The argument that people are already doing this is no good – it sounds like a realignment problem and not ‘Let’s just create another bureaucratic organization,’” she said. wrote. “What happened to Space Force being new/revolutionary/unique? What happened to redefining how we support the space mission? Seems to me like the senses. Diane Feinstein (D -Calif.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are forcing the opposing values ​​on which the USSF was established to get more money for their states.

Rogge said space capabilities can benefit governors.

“A governor must think of domestic operations in response to a natural need for specific satellite imagery to provide an element of command and control over his state to respond to this natural disaster,” he said. “The first and best option would be their National Guard. The Guard provides this governor with this surge capability to operate space services for the specific needs of the governor that the federal government does not provide.

Currently, the Air National Guard has 14 units in seven states. Rogge mentioned that other governors may want these capabilities in the future. This could lead to increased demand and costs in the future if Congress deems it necessary.

Space Force itself isn’t so sure it wants a Traditional Guard component. Service officials floated the idea of ​​a “space component” in April at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, which would be a hybrid structure merging full-time and part-time guards.

Chief of Space Operations General Jay Raymond described it as the service’s number one legislative priority.

“You could keep Guard units in the Air National Guard and have the Air National Guard continue to provide support,” Raymond said. “The second option is to remove the men and women of the Air National Guard and create a separate Space National Guard. Or you can remove those capabilities entirely from the Guard and put them into this one component.