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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“This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term, so we’ll have it done in about three years,” Trump said during a press conference in the Oval Office. “Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from the other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space.”

In addition, Trump announced that the Space Force’s Gen. Michael Guetlein will serve as the direct reporting program manager for Golden Dome. Currently serving as vice chief of space operations, Guetlein will have complete developmental oversight of Golden Dome — envisioned as a multi-layered homeland missile defense shield that will lean heavily on space-based systems.

Trump also signaled that Canada has requested to be part of the Golden Dome project, noting that their involvement would be a “fairly small expansion” but that the U.S. would work with the country on pricing and details.

Golden Dome was initiated following a January executive order that tasked the Defense Department to develop and field an “Iron Dome for America” — subsequently renamed as Golden Dome.

In a statement, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth noted that the Pentagon “has developed a draft architecture and implementation plan for a Golden Dome system of systems that will protect our homeland from a wide range of global missile threats.”

While Trump did not provide specific details on the chosen architecture, officials have previously said it would encompass proven terrestrial-based platforms, as well as several space-based systems — including new sensors and interceptors — that will allow the U.S. to destroy incoming missiles in early stages of flight.

“Our adversaries have become very capable and very intent on holding the homeland at risk while we have been focused on peace overseas,” Guetlein said during Tuesday’s press conference. “It is time we change that equation and start doubling down the protection of the homeland. Golden Dome is a bold and aggressive approach to hurry up and protect the homeland from our adversaries.”

In a statement, Hegseth said that the architecture “will be fielded in phases, prioritizing defense where the threat is greatest.”

However, developing and fielding Golden Dome on Trump’s aggressive three-year timeline will likely not come easy. 

Even with the estimated $175 billion price tag, a previous report from the Congressional Budget Office warned that the architecture would likely require a higher number of space-based sensors and interceptors than previously thought.

“For the lowest-cost alternative that CBO examines here, the reduction in launch costs would cause the total estimated cost of deploying and operating the [space-based interceptor] constellation for 20 years to fall from $264 billion to $161 billion (in 2025 dollars),” CBO wrote in a letter to lawmakers on May 5. “For the highest-cost alternative that CBO examines, the total estimate would fall from $831 billion to $542 billion.”

Republican lawmakers have already proposed a $25 billion down payment on Golden Dome under the reconciliation bill, but that legislation has yet to be approved by Congress.

Despite the budget uncertainty, Trump told reporters that he’s confident the funding for Golden Dome will come through.

“We’ll have a big phase very early, starting immediately with the $25 billion. It’ll cost about $175 billion [when] completed,” Trump said, adding that he believes Golden Dome will be fully operational “in two-and-a-half to three years.”

The Pentagon is currently working with the Office of Management and Budget to develop a plan for funding recommended capabilities that will be reviewed by Trump before he finalizes his budget request for fiscal 2026, according to a statement from Hegseth. 

Others have raised alarm over the technical feasibility of Golden Dome, particularly because many of the radars that would be in the architecture use the 3.1-3.45 GHz band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Pentagon officials and lawmakers have expressed concern that plans to auction off parts of the Defense Department’s spectrum to commercial telecommunications companies could inhibit Golden Dome’s ability to operate.

Lawmakers have also questioned Pentagon officials recently about other technical challenges with Golden Dome, such as the ability to field space-based interceptors and integrate multiple platforms under a single architecture. But Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, noted during Tuesday’s press conference that there are a number of U.S.-based companies — from traditional defense primes to VC-backed startups — ready to tackle the project.

“Our technology sector is head and shoulders above any other place in the world, and they’re going to be a key part of this,” Sullivan said.

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“With our commercial assets, we have observed five different objects in space maneuvering in and out around each other in synchronicity and in control. That’s what we call dogfighting in space,” Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein said Tuesday during the annual McAleese Defense Programs Conference. “They are practicing tactics, techniques and procedures to do on-orbit space operations from one satellite to another.”

A Space Force spokesperson told DefenseScoop that the series of demonstrations occurred last year and featured three Chinese Shiyan-24C experimental satellites and two experimental space objects known as the Shijian-6 05A/B. The rendezvous proximity operations tests were observed in low-Earth orbit via commercially available data, they added.

The demonstrations serve as yet another example of adversary advancements in space-based capabilities over the last few years. Co-orbital satellites could maneuver close to U.S. space systems in an attempt to disrupt or even directly hit them — raising further concerns about their potential use for military operations.

“Unfortunately, our current adversaries are willing to go against international norms of behavior … and they’re willing to do it in very unsafe and unprofessional manners,” Guetlein said. 

Along with maneuverable space vehicles, China has worked to develop anti-satellite missiles and other non-kinetic weapons that can attack U.S. platforms on-orbit. Russia has demonstrated similar counterspace capabilities, such as its 2021 test of an ASAT weapon that destroyed another Russian satellite. Moscow is also reportedly developing a nuclear space weapon that could create a massive energy wave and destroy multiple sats.

At the same time, the Space Force is monitoring cyber operations against U.S. space assets almost daily. Adversaries are also using their own satellites to shadow American on-orbit systems in a “cat-and-mouse game,” Guetlein said.

Guetlein’s comments come as the Space Force begins discussing its efforts to develop counterspace capabilities more publicly. The service recently added “space control” — that is, the ability to disrupt, degrade or destroy adversary systems via both kinetic and non-kinetic effects — to its list of “core functions.” Space control ops could include orbital warfare, electromagnetic warfare and other counterspace efforts.

And while the Space Force may be actively pursuing both offensive and defensive capabilities, Guetlein warned that Washington is at risk of losing its edge over Beijing and Moscow.

“There used to be a capability gap between us and our near peers, mainly driven by the technological advancement of the United States,” he said. “That capability gap has significantly narrowed, and we’ve got to change the way we’re looking at space, where that capability gap may reverse to not be in our favor anymore.”

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The service’s tactically responsive space (TacRS) effort is intended to rapidly speed up how it acquires, builds and launches national security systems into orbit — a process that normally takes several weeks or even months to complete. By doing so, the United States could immediately respond to on-orbit threats or replace space-based systems that have been targeted by an adversary.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Friday, Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein emphasized that the success of TacRS is not dependent on a specific hardware or technology — but rather the mindset of the Space Force.

“Tactically responsive space is about a culture shift with the United States Space Force to get the entire set of guardians thinking on tactically relevant timelines,” Guetlein said. “Everything in my psyche as a Space Force member — as a guardian — needs to be about how I provide that capability. What can I do to get it there tonight? What can I do to guarantee that it’ll be there tomorrow? And what can I be guaranteed to do to make sure I have competitive endurance in the future with a credible capability?”

The Space Force has begun a series of demonstrations that will help the service understand what changes are needed to have a persistent rapid launch capability — which it wants no later than 2026. That includes the concept of operations, acquisition authorities, training requirements, clearance processes and more, Guetlein said.

During its most recent TacRS demonstration, dubbed Victus Nox, the Space Force and its industry partners launched a satellite into space just 27 hours after the service gave orders to do so. The mission shattered the service’s previous record for a rapid space launch, which was 21 days from notice-to-launch.

Now the service is gearing up for its next TacRS demonstration — Victus Haze — alongside the Defense Innovation Unit. 

“Victus Haze is about continuing to break those paradigms, and to show how we would rapidly put up a space domain awareness capability and operate it in real time against a red threat,” Guetlein said.

As it prepares for the upcoming demo, one question being considered is whether TacRS could be something the Space Force purchases from industry as a service or if it needs to be a bespoke capability. According to Guetlein, all options are up for consideration.

“It might be through the commercially augmented space reserve that I reach into industry and I repurpose an asset that’s already on orbit. It might be that I reach into industry and I take something off the production line and repurpose it like we did for Victus Nox. It might be that I already have capabilities stored on orbit. It might be that there are some capabilities that we want to store on the ground so that we have rapid access to them,” he said. “Tactically responsive space is all of those concepts together, wrapped up into a mindset and a culture change within the United States Space Force.”

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