On August 9, 2018, US Vice-President, Mike Pence unveiled details of plans to build a US Space Force that would become the sixth branch of America’s massive military, joining the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. It is not currently clear what the precise nature of the service would be but it is thought to comprise a military force with fighting capabilities in space. The document outlines that America’s military is at risk in space; it identifies China and Russia as ‘strategic competitors’ that are “explicitly pursuing space war fighting capabilities to neutralise US space capabilities in a time of conflict” such as by jamming or hacking its satellites. Next year’s budget will seek funding and authorisation for the venture, it was announced.
The new space arm of the military would not be built entirely from scratch, but derive from pre-existing facets.
This development needs to be seen in the backdrop of space increasingly gaining a vital role in modern warfare, with many military technologies reliant on a network of sensors and satellites floating in orbit. Pence outlined a series of steps that the Pentagon will undertake ahead of the creation of Space Force.
The proposal needs to be approved by Congress, and the concept has met with some scepticism from lawmakers and defence officials who are wary of the cost and added bureaucracy. According to military analysts, the new force would also lead to weaker and smaller services as it would be carved out of the Air Force.
The vast US military divides the globe into various commands, such as Central Command in the Middle East or Indo-Pacific Command in Asia, and so a new Space Command would be on an equal footing with these. Currently, the Air Force, the newest of the armed services dating to 1947, has the largest stake in space. Interestingly, it already contains a Space Command, established in 1982.