A measure within the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) defense budget grounds U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall until he issues an oft-delayed, politically fraught decision on moving the newly-created Space Force’s headquarters from Colorado to Alabama.
The stipulation was placed within the draft $874.2 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by House Armed Services Committee Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.).
The preliminary $8.6 billion Space Force spending plan also prohibits Space Command from spending any money on improving its current headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and calls for the establishment of a Space National Guard.
The 412-page FY24 NDAA goes before the 59-member House Armed Services Committee on June 21, kicking off a summer of hearings. The Senate is debating its own version of the NDAA, which ideally will be adopted before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1….