Vice-President Mike Pence has announced plans for a new, separate U.S. Space Force as sixth military service by 2020
Pence says it’s needed to ensure America’s dominance in space amid heightened completion and threats from China and Russia. He says that while space was once peaceful and uncontested, it is now crowded and adversarial.
Today’s @DeptofDefense report represents a critical step toward establishing #SpaceForce as the 6th branch of our Armed Forces
1️⃣ Create US Space Command
2️⃣ Establish elite Space Operations Force
3️⃣ Create Space Development Agency
4️⃣ Stand up—& scale up—US Space Force pic.twitter.com/ClgG4PaXai— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 9, 2018
President Donald Trump has called for a “separate but equal” space force. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has endorsed plans to reorganize the military’s space warfighting forces and create a new command, but has previously opposed launching an expensive separate new service.
Any proposal to create a new service would require congressional action.
Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press
