Trump's Space Force is real, and here are the reported details
The Pentagon has reportedly started to create the new military branch, even before getting congressional approval.
- Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Space Force last month.
President Donald Trump's order to create a sixth branch of the US Armed Forces called the Space Force is becoming very real.
The US Defense Department will take steps to create the new military branch this week, according to Defense One, though Congress hasn't yet fully backed the order.
President Trump directed the department to create a Space Force on live TV last month, after floating the idea in March. Some people haven't taken the idea so seriously, spawning a host of memes mocking the order.
But the new military branch appears to be materializing quickly. Defense Department leaders will reportedly begin creating three of the four elements of the Space Force in coming months: "a new combatant command for space, a new joint agency to buy satellites for the military, and a new warfighting community that draws space operators from all service branches," Defense One reports. The Pentagon can reportedly take these steps without a thumbs-up from Congress, thanks to the former establishment of cyber forces.
But the forth component of the Space Force will require lawmakers' approval. It involves creating a whole new military branch with services like financial management and facilities construction. Defense Department leaders will reportedly spend the rest of the year creating a "legislative proposal for the authorities necessary to fully establish the Space Force." Congress would get the proposal in early 2019 as part of the Trump administration's budget proposal for the following year.
The plan was reportedly developed by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in a 14-page draft report that will be sent to lawmakers on Wednesday.
Defense Department spokesman Jamie Davis confirmed for CNET that an official report laying the groundwork for what a Space Force would look like is due to Congress within the next week. He said the draft of the report on which Defense One's story is based wasn't the final version, and therefore wouldn't verify the story's authenticity. Defense One also notes that it reviewed a draft dated July 30.
"The Department of Defense is establishing a Space Force to protect our economy through deterrence of malicious activities, ensure our space systems meet national security requirements and provide vital capabilities to joint and coalition forces across the spectrum of conflict," the draft report reviewed by Defense One reportedly reads. "DoD will usher in a new age of space technology and field new systems in order to deter, and if necessary degrade, deny, disrupt, destroy and manipulate adversary capabilities to protect U.S. interests, assets and way of life...This new age will unlock growth in the U.S. industrial base, expand the commercial space economy and strengthen partnerships with our allies."