The US Air Force is asking for £6 billion ($8.5 billion) for space programs in the 2019 budget.
Speaking at the Air Force Association’s annual air warfare exposition, General Goldfein said: “It’s time for us as a service, regardless of speciality badge, to embrace space superiority with the same passion and sense of ownership as we apply to air superiority today.”
The comments come following a proposal from politicians to create a new part of the military aimed at targeting space conflict.
General Goldfein said the US Air Force will be able to protect the US from space but there needs to be investment in training of specialist space operatives.
He said: “I believe we’re going to be fighting from space in a matter of years.
“We are the service that must lead joint war fighting in this new contested domain.
“This is what the nation demands.
“I look forward to discussing how we can leverage new technology and new ways of networking multi-domain sensors and resilient communications to bring more lethality to the fight.”
The Earth’s orbit is home to 150 million pieces of spare junk, which could cause chaos if a war were to erupt.
There are even concerns that shrapnel travelling through space could destroy equipment used for communication and GPS on Earth.
Outer space is protected by international law by the Outer Space Treaty, which was a treaty signed in 1967 and has yet to be violated.
The treaty agreed by the United Nations, states that no country can lay claim to the space territory.
The treaty bars countries from placing weapons of mass destruction on the moon or any other celestial body.
National Security Advisor Herbert McMaster said on Wednesday at a meeting of the National Space Council that the US would be prepared for any conflict that took place in space.
He said: “Due to competitor and adversary actions, the space domain is increasingly contested. Space has now joined land, sea, and air as a war-fighting domain.
“While we prefer the conflict not to extend to space, the United States will be prepared if it does.”