On June 18, 2018, in a White House briefing, President Trump announced the formation of a new military branch called the United States Space Force. Two months later, Vice President Pence spoke on the need for the newly formed sixth branch of the US military and unveiled plans for creating the new department. With the help of the Department of Defense, a new US space command would be formed to unify operations, develop space warfighting doctrines, techniques, tactics, and procedures of the future. A Space Development Agency would also be formed to focus on in-depth research and the development of new advanced space technologies.
A military astronaut corps would be created to provide a specialized elite group of fighters to meet the challengers in the unique domain of space.
Sixth branch of Armed Forces
Tuesday, President Trump signed the Space Policy Directive-4 that calls for the Secretary of Defense to set in motion a legislative proposal, that will be presented to Congress, to set up the Space Force as the sixth branch of our Armed Forces within the Department of the Air Force. The proposal will outline the critical need for the United States to start preparing to deter and defeat adverse threats in space where we have vital interests and the potential threat from foreign entities.
Building ongoing space capabilities
According to a statement by the US Strategic Command, in 2016, Commander, Admiral Cecil D Haney took part in a discussion at the Think Tank Center titled New American Security. It was on the growing threats as it relates to space, deterrence strategy and efforts of solving these challenges.
He stated then, that we must face the fact that the threats are real and "building capability, capacity, and resilience in our space assets and architecture is a top priority, particularly as we consider how deeply integrated space is in our everyday lives."
Technology advances and so must we
In January 2019, 72 counties claimed to have a space program but only three are operated under a government space agency; NASA (U.S.), RFSA (Russia), and CNSA (China).
Six have basic launch capability; NASA (U.S.), RFSA (Russia), CNSA (China), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and ISRO (India). Each have the ability to launch and recover multiple satellites, deploy cryogenic rocket engines and to operate extra-terrestrial explorations.
As technology advances, so will every space program in the world and we must be fully equipped not only today but in the future to defend our vital interest. President Trump's administration has made Space Force a national security priority. Congress will consider the need for safety and defense in the accelerating capabilities of space.
