“Some companies want to lease certain space assets that are actually military weapon systems that can be used to destroy other systems and even kill people,” Reed said. “Last year’s NDAA prohibited temporary ownership of space weapon systems, and the analogy is very plain. We don’t lease M4 rifles. We don’t lease F-15s, etc. This year’s NDA further clarifies the Space Force must own title to a space weapon system.”

Reed asked Lt. Gen. Doug Schiess, the nominee for the next Chief of Space Operations, for his views on the matter. If confirmed for the position, Schiess will serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advising the president on military matters.

“There are definitely different mission areas where having commercial leasing, different ways to do that, makes sense,” Schiess said. “Satellite communications, space domain awareness, things like that. But I also agree when it is a weapon system or a capability that would be able to harm another person’s equipment, their assets, or even people, that needs to be completely owned by the Space Force and needs to be controlled.”

The Space Force is poised for a massive cash infusion. The Trump administration requested $71.1 billion for the Space Force in fiscal year 2027, a nearly 80 percent increase over the service’s overall 2026 budget of approximately $40 billion. Lawmakers appear ready to approve a budget between $50 billion and $60 billion.

Schiess mentioned hybrid models, such as those used by the National Reconnaissance Office, in which contractors actually operate some government-owned satellites. “But they always have a military member or a National Reconnaissance Office civilian that is the mission director over that.”

“I am, if confirmed, happy to work with you on that,” Schiess told Reed. “But I agree that we have to have Guardian control over those systems,” he added, referring to the military’s term for a Space Force service member.

The question is prescient. The idea of space warfare may have become normalized, but the norms themselves are lagging.