President Donald Trump has pushed for a separate Space Force for the past two years, even getting revelers at his rallies to chant the name of the new service branch.

But getting a space service through Congress has been a fight, and the Senate proposal is a slimmed-down version of an earlier Pentagon plan.

Gardner said the Senate sought to grow space capabilities for the military without ballooning bureaucracy. He said that goal is accomplished by taking the established space headquarters in Colorado Springs and putting it atop the new service.

The Space Force remains part of the Air Force, in a management scheme that mimics the relationship between the Navy and the Marine Corps. That means there’s no new service secretary and accompanying staff at the Pentagon and the Air Force will provide the Space Force with its cooks, medics, lawyers and other necessities outside the realm of orbit.

“It’s using Air Force assets,” Gardner said. “That’s a good thing.”

The Senate plan also includes a 3.1 percent pay raise for troops. It brings at least $150 million in military construction cash to Colorado, including $71 million for Fort Carson, $54 million for Peterson Air Force Base and $23 million for Schriever Air Force Base, all in the Pikes Peak region.

The Senate plan is less generous in construction cash than a current House proposal but includes a plan that pushes more money into future budgets.

The Senate plan has more cash overall for the Pentagon, but the deal could be scuttled unless Congress agrees to lift mandatory spending caps through “sequestration” – a holdover from an Obama-era deficit-cutting plan championed by the GOP.

Gardner said he’s hopeful lawmakers can reach a long-term budget fix, without resorting to temporary measures that have staved off cuts while leaving the spending caps in place.

Gardner also inserted a provision into the military bill that some would see as a swipe at the Trump administration by stiffening sanctions on North Korea.

President Donald Trump has expressed confidence that North Korea is backing away from its nuclear programs thanks to his personal diplomacy with dictator Kim Jong Un. Gardner said he has less faith that North Korea can be easily persuaded to give up its nuclear ambitions.