Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton has been selected to receive his fourth star and become the next vice chief of space operations, according to a notice posted to Congress.gov. If confirmed, Bratton would take over the Space Force’s No. 2 spot from Gen. Michael Guetlein, who was recently tapped to lead the Defense Department’s sprawling Golden Dome missile defense effort.

Bratton has been serving as the Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements since 2023, where he has been responsible for the service’s overall warfighting strategies, system requirements and budget.

Prior to his current role, Bratton served as the first commander of the Space Force’s Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), which oversees guardian training, capability testing and creating operational doctrine.

As the Space Force’s vice chief, Bratton would assist Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman in leading the Pentagon’s smallest service and advocating for more resources. In recent months, the Space Force has been given a number of new responsibilities — from critical capabilities moving to the space domain to development of Golden Dome.

Bratton’s nomination confirms that Guetlein will not serve in a dual-hatted position as both vice chief of space operations and direct reporting program manager for Golden Dome. Trump announced in May that Guetlein would lead the DOD-wide effort, which seeks to build a comprehensive missile defense architecture for the U.S. homeland leveraging terrestrial- and space-based systems.

Meanwhile, Gen. Thomas Bussiere has been picked to serve as the next vice chief of staff for the Air Force, a second notice on Congress.gov stated. Bussiere currently helms Air Force Global Strike Command, and previously held a number of leadership positions within the service’s strategic enterprise during his career.

The Air Force has been without a vice chief since February, when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth removed Gen. James Slife from the position. Slife was fired alongside former chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown and former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

If confirmed, Bussiere’s extensive experience with the Air Force’s strategic enterprise would be a welcome one as the service works to modernize all of its nuclear capabilities. While some efforts like the B-21 Raider stealth bomber are going relatively well, others like the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program have been troubled by growing cost estimates.

Both nominees must be confirmed by the Senate to become vice chiefs.

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There has been ongoing debate within the Space Force regarding the military benefit of investing in on-orbit refueling — touted by commercial industry as a key enabler for space mobility that could potentially extend the operational range and capacity of satellites. The service requested $20 million in fiscal 2025 to fund early research and development efforts, but recent comments by leadership have suggested that officials aren’t entirely ready to go all-in.

“I think we’re trying to understand the value proposition of refueling and the trades that come with it. I think it’s entirely appropriate, and we are investing in demonstration and capability with some of our teammates who are peeling this apart — both on the cost side as well as the military advantage,” Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs and requirements, said Thursday during a webinar hosted by the Mitchell Institute.

In theory, refueling tech is favorable for the Space Force’s large, exquisite satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO), as replacing them could take years and cost billions of dollars. But while Bratton said the ability to refuel spacecraft could lead to extending their time on orbit, other components on the satellites have finite lifespans and will eventually fail at some point.

At the same time, the service is pushing for a future where it proliferates hundreds of smaller sats that are cheaper to build and launch — meaning if one space vehicle fails, another in the constellation could take its place. Operating large numbers of platforms with shorter lifespans also means the Space Force can update its architectures with the latest technologies at a faster pace, Bratton added.

The Space Force is currently analyzing the tradeoffs between both strategies, including both operational and cost advantages, Bratton said. And given ongoing fiscal uncertainty and discussions around budget constraints, he noted that if the service decides to put more funding towards in-space refueling it will likely have to be taken away from something else.

“I don’t have the data together yet. I think we’ll have that this fall, based on the ongoing work and then based on the great demonstrations that are going on out there with [Space Systems Command] that is sort of helping us figure this out,” Bratton said.

To help with those assessments, the Space Force is planning a series of projects in the near future focused on experimenting with in-space refueling. 

The service contracted Northrop Grumman in April for a new mission called Elixir, which will involve developing and integrating a refueling payload onto a satellite and demonstrating the technology in space. Separately, the company also recently received a multi-unit award for its ESPAStar spacecraft that will host the refueling demonstration payload during launch.

The Space Force also contracted Astroscale US in April to conduct two refueling operations in GEO in summer 2026. The mission will “demonstrate the ability of commercial Servicing, Mobility and Logistics providers to deliver on-orbit capabilities supporting the warfighter,” a company press release stated. 

Along with the demonstrations, Bratton said he’s looking for additional wargaming and studies of in-space refueling technology that could help determine its value proposition.

“If that is the advantage that refueling brings, then let’s put that into some wargaming, run it through a conflict,” he said. “How much of a difference does it make if I go to war with refueling [or] I go to war without refueling? How do I quantify that advantage? And then we can measure that against the budget choices we have to make.”

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Titled “Space Warfighting – A Framework for Planners,” the document provides the service’s most detailed plan to date for conducting warfare “in, from, and to space” as the domain becomes increasingly contested. The framework’s primary goal is to establish a common lexicon for guardians and joint planners focused on counterspace operations. It lists offensive and defensive options the Space Force can take to achieve what it calls “space superiority.”

“It is the formative purpose of the Space Force to achieve space superiority — to ensure freedom of movement in space for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman wrote in the framework’s foreword. “We must be prepared to employ capabilities for offensive and defensive purposes to deter and, if necessary, defeat aggressors that threaten our vital national interests.”

The document’s release comes as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been emphasizing the importance of promoting a “warfighting ethos” across the Defense Department. That rhetoric has trickled down to Space Force leaders, who are now openly discussing the military’s ability to weaponize the space domain through counterspace operations after years of keeping those plans and capabilities behind closed doors.

Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements, told reporters Wednesday that the new framework represents a shift for the United States’ newest military service towards a more codified strategy and doctrine.

“This space warfighting document is in that vein of the natural maturing of the Space Force, and this one is very specific to space superiority,” Bratton said. “This document is very specific to our core function of space control and how we think about warfighting in space.”

According to officials, counterspace operations will be executed across three mission areas: orbital, electromagnetic and cyberspace warfare. The document also details different offensive and defensive counterspace actions guardians can conduct at the direction of combatant commanders.

For example, offensive actions include “orbital strike,” which can destroy, disrupt or degrade an adversary’s space platforms on orbit either through kinetic or non-kinetic means. The framework also lists “space link interdiction” — options to affect an enemy’s space communications links — and “terrestrial strike” — which focuses on an opponent’s infrastructure on Earth — as offensive options.

The Space Force divides its defensive actions into two groups: active and passive. “Active space defense” includes options to escort friendly satellites on orbit; conduct reactive counterattacks against enemy space systems that pose a threat; and suppress adversary counterspace targeting abilities. The framework lists seven mechanisms for “passive space defense” that aim to proactively protect the Space Force’s capabilities against foes.

Bratton noted the framework isn’t a comprehensive list of what systems the Space Force already has in its arsenal, but will hopefully help frame the service’s discussions on what technologies and systems it will need moving forward. 

“I think there are concepts in here that maybe we don’t have capabilities for today, that maybe it’s time to start thinking about those things,” he said. “The document does prod guardians in those areas. Like, let’s find out if there’s a military advantage in space-to-space weapons. Or, let’s find out if there’s a military advantage in other areas.”

Overall, the document attempts to underscore the contributions the Space Force will make to the joint force in future conflicts, as protecting the other services from space-enabled attacks is now considered one of the organization’s core missions.

“The success of the joint force really does depend on the success in the space domain. We have to be able to take away that capability from an adversary, maintain that capability for ourselves — or the whole joint force will suffer,” he said. “It’s a big responsibility. The guardians of the Space Force are going to carry it.”

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Although much of the service’s efforts have been focused on simulations that better suit digital warfighting operations in the space domain, the mission still demands that guardians be trained in live scenarios, such as how to operate spacecraft and work ground control systems, said Maj. Gen. Shawn Bratton, commander of Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM).

“I think a big change — certainly from when I came up, but even more in recent years — is we’re shifting back a little bit more into live training,” Bratton said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by the Mitchell Institute. 

He noted that training for live space ops in the past has been primarily done in a classroom setting where warfighters would discuss missions and potential outcomes, with just some simulation training available.

“Now the discussion is, ‘Why aren’t we flying a spacecraft in training? Why aren’t we getting some sort of reps and sets … in the training environment?’” he said. “If we can move that back into the training pipeline, I think there will be value added.”

Adding those physical training elements within STARCOM’s purview will alleviate some training responsibilities for Space Operations Command (SPoC), he noted.

Since its creation in 2019, the Space Force has been on a campaign to build tools and infrastructure that will help guardians hone their digital warfighting skills in the space and cyber domains. Much of those efforts are directed at high-fidelity simulators that virtually connect guardians to a simulated space environment.

While digital skills are key for the Space Force, guardians should also be able to receive training on the physical aspects of the space domain, Bratton said. He pointed to programs at the Air Force Academy that give students experience in building and flying spacecraft as an example.

“They’re on crew, they understand ground systems, how to schedule the antenna pass times — all of these sort of fundamental concepts that apply, regardless of what spacecraft you end up flying in your career. We think we can bring that back into training through simulation, but also with some live activity,” he said.

STARCOM plans to build out a National Space Test and Training Complex (NSTTC) that will act as “the gym to go work out the force,” and it has already hosted the first of the service’s Skies exercises, Bratton said. The complex will have scalable training capabilities for both synthetic and live environments that support the service’s mission areas: electronic warfare, orbital warfare, cyber operations and digital connectivity. 

“The NSTTC is the broad label that we put on the range that we’re building, but it’s not a physical piece of real estate that we own,” Bratton explained. “It’s those on-orbit capabilities, the ground sensors and then the infrastructure that ties it all together for command and control and gathering data.”

As STARCOM continues to scale the training complex, it’s looking for industry’s help in ensuring its four mission areas are integrated and able to be trained on together, Bratton said. 

“How do I bring capabilities together and then let it unfold in a live-virtual-constructive way? And so, we haven’t quite cracked the code on that completely,” he said. “We have some simulation capability, [but] I think that’s an area where we need more help. We have some underlying infrastructure and we have a vision of where we want to go … but it’s an area where we’re going to need industry’s help.”

Also to help with integration, the Space Force is on the cusp of publishing a new vision and roadmap that will outline how the service will bring together how it trains its space, cyber and intelligence teams, Bratton said. Right now those three groups of operators are trained separately, but that isn’t how real-world missions would be carried out, he noted.

“Right now we tend to train them in individual groups — especially space, cyber and intel. We don’t operate that way though. Usually there’s representative space, cyber and intel on the crew force,” Bratton said. “And so again, I’ve shifted training burden inadvertently to SPoC. I think STARCOM needs to do a better job.”

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