U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to create a new Space Force could cost much less than an Air Force estimate of $13 billion over five years, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said.
The Pentagon official said that the estimated cost of creating a separate branch of the military was "a single digit, not a double digit.'
When asked to specify, Shanahan said the number was between $5 billion and $10 billion but added that it "might be lower than five, it could be lower," the Hill reported.
Trump ordered the Pentagon in June to begin forming a plan for a Space Force. During a speech at the Pentagon in August, Vice President Mike Pence outlined the steps the administration is taking to carry out the plan, with Shanahan tasked with overseeing the effort.
A memo from Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson that was widely leaked in September estimated that the Space Force could cost $13 billion, including $3 billion its first year and $10 over the following four years.
