The Space Force‘s new dress uniforms are now not expected to be widely available to Guardians until nearly the end of 2025, and other new clothing items could also be released alongside them.
Sarah Fiocco, a spokesperson for the Department of the Air Force, told Military.com on Wednesday in response to questions about dress uniform updates that “we anticipate service dress uniforms will be broadly available no earlier than December 2025.”
The updated timeline comes after the service concluded fit testing for the seemingly science fiction-inspired dress uniforms in late 2023. Additionally, Fiocco told Military.com that “development for optional uniform items, such as a pullover sweater, are underway.”
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The December 2025 rollout date will mark more than four years since the uniform’s design went public at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference in September 2021 and the public gave mixed reviews.
“The new Space Force uniform … a blend of the Star Trek Enterprise dress uniform, but with the Mirror Universe diagonal,” Peter Singer, a noted commentator on the military and author of “LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media,” said in a social media post during the 2021 rollout.
The Space Force, several weeks after the unveiling, posted on Facebook that it was making changes.
“We heard your feedback,” the service branch said. “New pants, new fit coming soon.”
A number of changes followed shortly after, Military.com previously reported, including adding stripes down the pants, changing the pocket style, adding pockets on the lower half of the jacket, and decreasing the number of buttons on the interior enclosure of the jacket.
In September 2023, the Space Force announced that it had begun wear-testing the uniform by 100 Guardians across eight installations: Camp Smith, New York; Cavalier Space Force Station, North Dakota; Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas; Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Landstuhl Air Base, Germany; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; and Yokota Air Base, Japan.
Fiocco told Military.com that the fit testing “focused on durability, resulting in minor changes such as the height and construction of the coat collar.”
The testing phase found that “feedback was overwhelmingly positive,” Fiocco added, saying that more than 90% of test participants liked the design and over 80% approved of the overall fit.
“Upon initially viewing the new service uniform, I was attracted to the distinct look of the coat,” Space Force Master Sgt. Kristopher Jaynes said last year in a news release. “It was unlike any other dress uniform. Then, putting the uniform on, I immediately noticed how comfortable it was.”
Related: Space Force Chief Shows Off Latest Service Dress Uniform Prototype. Yes, They Tweaked the Pants.