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Are the U.S. Space Forces Starting to Muster?

October 12, 2018
ExoNews Editor

by John Breeden II October 2, 2018 (nextgov.com)

• With all of the proposals for space-based operations being bandied about in Washington D.C., who is doing what in space?

• Space Force – A entirely new and separate branch of the U.S. military, proposed by President Trump. Such a specialized space force could maintain the current technological advantage that the United States may have over China and Russia. A recent proposal by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan called for a tight integration between the new Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office to gather intelligence using satellites. According to an Air Force memo, a new Space Force would initially require 13,000 new personnel and cost $13 billion over the next five years, including $2.2 billion in order to set up a headquarters and $7.2 billion for new assets and equipment.

• NASA – The U.S.’s “peaceful” space program, NASA has recently launched a new effort to search for extraterrestrial, intelligent life known as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

• Space Corps – The 2017 version of Trump’s Space Force that was included in the House of Representative’s fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, but was voted down in the Senate.

• Space Command – An alternative to the Space Corps, led by the U.S. Air Force, that would integrate space-based assets, such as military satellites, into the future operations of all branches of service through the development of a Multi-Domain Command and Control system. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is already developing a program called ‘Hallmark’ that will provide better situational awareness in space, especially in the lower Earth orbit zones, which are cluttered with everything from satellites to space junk.

• Strategic Support Force – The Chinese operations center that manages its space program, cyberspace and electronic warfare.

• [Editor’s Note] Here are some past ExoNews articles on President Trump’s Space Force:
House Panel Lays Foundation for Future Space Force May 14, 2018
Trump Directs DOD to Establish a Space Force in a Surprise Announcement Jun 18, 2018
Pence Details Plan for Creation of Space Force in What Would Be the Sixth Branch of the Military August 9, 2018
New Pentagon Memo Lays Out Action Plan to Establish Space Force by 2020 September 13, 2018

When President Donald Trump proposed creating the Space Force as a separate branch of the military, quite a few people ended up scratching their heads. While it would be cool to have a bunch of sleek spaceships like in Star Trek, the sad truth is that we are probably decades or even centuries away from anything close to technology like that, if we ever get there at all. Looked at pessimistically, we would get about as much value out of creating a military branch of time travelers, let’s call them Paladins of the Past, charged with protecting our history from temporal manipulation. It might make for great sci-fi but would not offer much practical value.

We also already have the most advanced, peaceful space program in the world through NASA. Just this spring they launched TESS, the short name for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which is bristling with artificial intelligence designed to optimize the search for extraterrestrial, intelligent life. Nobody else is even close to something like TESS.

But NASA works on peaceful projects, and the idea of a militarized space force has been kicked around Washington for a while. The House included such a provision in the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, calling the new military branch the “Space Corps.” That idea died in the Senate, though the Defense Department was asked to study the issue.

Trump’s support has given the idea new life, and the Air Force was asked to take the lead on proposing what an independent space command might look like. Previously, the Air Force’s focus was on integrating space-based assets, such as military satellites, into the future operations of all branches of service. They have been working on developing a Multi-Domain Command and Control system which would accomplish that.

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Trump Directs DOD to Establish a Space Force in a Surprise Announcement

June 20, 2018
ExoNews Editor

by Rachel Becker Jun 18, 2018 (theverge.com)

• On June 18th, President Trump hijacked the scheduled signing of a Space Policy Directive on the subject of space traffic management and space debris at a meeting of the National Space Council to again call for a Space Force as a sixth branch of the US military. “We are going to have the Air Force and we’re going to have the Space Force, separate but equal. It is going to be something so important,” President Trump announced.

• Trump first proposed the idea of a Space Force in March 2018, in opposition to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ who favors a ‘Space Corps’ as an arm of the U.S. Air Force. Mattis argues that it will create more overhead and bureaucracy. The Air Force Space Command currently controls our military interests in space. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 has already directed the DoD to prepare a report on establishing a USAF ‘Space Corps’ that is due in August.

• What Trump didn’t mention was what the Space Force would do and how it would be funded. Point in fact, Congress would have to pass legislation to both to create a new branch of the military and to fund it.

• Then there is the 1967 United Nations’ “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies”, ratified by 104 nations including Russia, China and the U.S., which prohibits nuclear weapons, war exercises, or even military installations in space. (see Article IV)

• [Editor’s Note] This seems to illustrate the current struggle between the Pentagon/Trump Alliance forces and the historically and predominantly ‘Deep State’ controlled Air Force for official control over space, and therefore disclosure of such secret space programs and technology. Recall that in discussing the USAF space program that shot down the Deep State guided missile over Hawaii in January of this year, Dr Michael Salla distinguishes this hero USAF faction as a “USAF run Secret Space Program that has broken away from Deep State control”.

President Donald Trump directed the Department of Defense and the Pentagon to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces in a meeting with the National Space Council today.

“We are going to have the Air Force and we’re going to have the Space Force, separate but equal. It is going to be something so important,” President Trump said.

“Separate but equal” is an appalling turn of phrase given that it’s derived from Plessy v. Ferguson, the now-overturned Supreme Court precedent for segregation.

The announcement came as a surprise in a meeting where the newly revived National Space Council was set to unveil the first comprehensive policy on space traffic management. “The whole point of today’s meeting was not about this at all, it was about the space traffic management policy decision,” says Brian Weeden, director of program planning for the Secure World Foundation — an NGO that focuses on space policy.

Still, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Trump’s hopes for a Space Force; he first proposed the idea of a Space Force in March 2018 — contradicting Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ opposition to creating a new military service. In a letter to the Committee on Armed Services, Mattis argued that it would just create more overhead and bureaucracy.

As it stands, the Air Force is largely in charge of controlling national security in space under the umbrella of the Air Force Space Command. Its responsibilities include supervising launches and controlling DoD satellites — including ones involved in missile early warnings, communication, and navigation.

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