# Space Environment Research

**R-2A activity** of project 621010 — Space Survivability & Surveillance  
**Program element:** 1206601SF — Space Technology  
**Component:** U.S. Space Force · **Budget Activity:** 2  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206601SF/621010/a0  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206601SF/621010

## Summary

This activity requests $17.6M in FY2027, 60% of project 621010, down 27% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** Continue: -Executing joint roadmap with the Military Application of the Space Environment (MASE) program at Space Systems Command. -Collaborating with Canada to advance ionospheric specification in support of indications and warning and coordinate registration for Over the Horizon Radar. -Executing joint field experiments and studies under the Disturbed Ionospheres Trilateral Partnership Agreement (PA) between the United States, Great Britain and Australia. -Exploitation of Space Experiment data in support of e.g. Radiation Belt Remediation technology development. -End to end simulations of High Altitude Nuclear Explosion (HANE) events in support of Radiation Belt Remediation technology development. -Analyzing data from field experiments. -Supporting and developing technologies aligned to Space Warfighting Analysis Center and Space Systems Command Capability Collaboration Team tech needs as well as those supporting the Department of the Air Force priorities, e.g. situational awareness and communication in contested environments; edge sensing and sensemaking; and space environment Common Operating Pictures. -Foundational work and support for national roadmaps related to Space Environment capabilities, i.e. National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan, Combat Forces Command, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Air Combat Command, Air Force Weather, Department of Commerce, etc. -Invention and development of space based environmental monitoring sensors to include Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) composition and density. Complete: -Transition of Sounder Receiver (SoRcer) Enabled Ionospheric Modeling (SEIM) software components to Military Application of the Space Environment (MASE). Commence: -Assessment of indications and warning (I&W) for chemical releases in space and near-space environments.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 decreased by $6.549 million compared to FY 2026 due to decreased in-house research supporting Space Environment.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue: -Executing joint roadmap with the Military Application of the Space Environment (MASE) program at Space Systems Command. -Developing Over the Horizon Radar propagation specification work and move into more stressing environments, i.e. Equatorial and High Latitude. -Collaboration with the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, to execute relevant field experiments and develop specification models with utility for operational systems. -Supporting and developing technologies aligned to Space Warfighting Analysis Center and Space Systems Command Capability Collaboration Team tech needs as well as those supporting the Department of the Air Force priorities, e.g. situational awareness and communication in contested environments; edge sensing and sensemaking; and space environment Common Operating Pictures. -Collaboration with Canada on high-latitude ionospheric specification and field experiments. -Pursuing field experiments and demonstrations related to ionospheric modification. -Invention and development of space based environmental monitoring sensors. -Supporting Space Systems Command to optimize the utility of their operational space environment sensor and capabilities in support of Department of War mission. -Foundational work and support for national roadmaps related to Space Environment capabilities, i.e. National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan, Combat Forces Command, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Air Combat Command, Air Force Weather, Department of Commerce, etc. -Work in support of predictive space environment capabilities that protect and enable Department of War and National missions. -Trilateral collaboration with United States, Great Britain and Australia to understand the utility of ionospheric specification for Radio Frequency applications and the impacts of naturally and artificially produced ionospheric modifications. -Stand up of a Cislunar and Radiation Belt Remediation research team to support Cislunar activities, pursue additional outcomes from the previous mission, and continue to develop options for future flight experiments. Complete: -Roadmap for support of the Homeland Defense Arctic Over the Horizon Radar program out of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. -Sounder Receiver (SoRcer) Enabled Ionospheric Modeling (SEIM) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 22.9 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 24.1 |
| FY2027 | Request | 17.6 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project 621010

- [Strategic Radiation Hardened Electronics](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206601SF/621010/a1) — FY2027 11.8

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 1206601SF project 621010 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*