The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is planning to establish a Space Center by 2028, a unit that military leaders say will eventually grow into a Space Command or Space Force. AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. disclosed the plan on Tuesday, July 7, following the military’s first-semester command conference with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
President Marcos has approved funding for the project, though the exact amount has not been disclosed. The initiative traces back to a directive Marcos gave during the AFP’s year-end command conference in December 2025, when he asked why the country did not have its own military satellites.
“We are now planning to create our Space Center which will eventually evolve into a Space Force or a Space Command,” Brawner said. “It will be a center because we’re going to start small first. Later on, we’re going to expand into a Space Command or a Space Force.”
Brawner said the AFP is already organizing the unit while using existing space-based services in the interim. “As early as now, we are already building the unit. We already have services that we are tapping so we can take advantage of space technology,” he said.
The AFP will work with the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), which currently operates the country’s geostationary satellite capability. Brawner said the military will likely begin with low-orbit satellites, which will be interconnected with PhilSA’s existing systems. Asked about the timeline, Brawner said, “Hopefully by 2028, we will already have it.”
Brawner outlined two primary uses for the planned space capability. The first is intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. “There are two very important uses of space. Number one is ISR. It will serve as our ‘eye in the sky’ so we can see what is happening on land and in our seas,” he said. The second is systems integration. “This includes our communication system, command and control system, missile systems, drone systems, and others,” he added.
The Space Center forms part of a broader restructuring of the AFP under Marcos and Brawner, who is set to retire by July 21, 2026. Recent additions to the military’s organizational structure include the Cyber Command, Intelligence Command, Strategic Command, and Joint Special Operations Command, established as the AFP expands its external defense capabilities and maritime domain awareness.
If realized, the Space Center would place the Philippines among a growing number of countries formalizing military space capabilities. The United States and China maintain space forces as independent branches on par with their armies, navies, and air forces, while most other militaries place their space units under an existing branch, typically the air force, or operate them as joint commands.
No further details on the Space Center’s budget, physical location, or organizational structure under the AFP have been released as of this writing.
