Speaking before the US House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said that "to put it simply, space based missions are essential to the US way of war."
"Space is essential to how we compete and fight in every domain," the government official went on to underscore.
Plumb said the US military infrastructure consisting of space assets orbiting the Earth provides essential capabilities in both the strategic and tactical spheres.
"It provides us with the missile warning and the missile tracking essential to defending our Homeland," Plumb said. "It provides precision navigation tracking to strike targets with precision. and it provides communication in austere environments to support global command and control."
The total $33.3 billion proposed space military budget for fiscal 2024 is a 15% increase on the one for Fiscal Year 2023, and includes nearly $5 billion for missile tracking and warning capabilities, Plumb said.
At least $2.3 billion of that sum will go to new proliferated resilient architectures and $2.6 billion for next-generation persistent overhead infrared systems, Plumb added.