US President Donald Trump created quite a buzz when he announced that the US would be establishing a “Space Force” — a brand new US military service. “I’m hereby directing the Department of Defence and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces. That’s a big statement,” Trump said before adding: “We’re going to have the Air Force and we’re going to have the Space Force — separate but equal.”
The other branches of the US Armed Forces are the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Little is known about the Space Force that Trump envisions but presumably it will oversee US military operations in space, which is currently managed by the Air Force via the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC).
In its current form, AFSPC is not a co-equal branch of the military, and as its name implies, it’s a division of the Air Force. But it’s not a small unit. Some 36,000 people work for it. Its portfolio is also vast, including overseeing government satellites, helping conduct rocket launches by Nasa and private companies, Earth surveillance, weather forecasting, communications and monitoring space junk, among other things.
Not a new idea
The idea of a Space Force isn’t new. In 2000, a year before he became Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld chaired a commission that suggested the creation of a Space Corps within the Air Force. But that idea was side-lined after the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001 and the US became engrossed in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Last year, that idea was revived when the House Armed Services Committee approved a measure to create a Space Corps brought forward by representatives Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper. They wanted to create a Space Corps under the Air Force, similar to what Rumsfeld had proposed.
The Pentagon was resistant to this idea. “The Pentagon is complicated enough,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said. “This will make it more complex, add more boxes to the organisation chart and cost more money. If I had more money, I’d put it into lethality, not bureaucracy.”
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said: “At a time when we’re trying to integrate the department’s joint war fighting functions, I do not wish to add a separate service that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations.” His boss, Trump, obviously thinks otherwise and decided to take the idea a step further when he said he wanted a Space Force that was “separate but equal”.
The central argument that Space Force advocates is that the Air Force is too busy to pay much attention to space warfare. Although he hasn’t articulated the details of his vision, Trump did say the following: “Defence is now largely based with the satellites and everything else in space. And the problem is when you have the Air Force, I don’t think they’re going to really sort of, you know, they want those planes flying. They want it, but I don’t think they’re going to be focusing on space maybe like they should.”
Satellites
Although the term “Space Force” conjures up images of Star Wars and dogfights in space, its actual focus will probably be more mundane: protecting satellites orbiting the earth. Since the mid-80s the US has placed close to 300 satellites into space.
These satellites help to guide aircraft carriers on the seas, troop movements on the ground and drones in the sky. They’re also used to monitor ballistic missile launches and facilitate all kinds of communication. These are vital assets in today’s world and if they’re crippled or knocked down, there would be serious national security implications.
The concerns about anti-satellite weaponry from Russia and China are real. A US intelligence threat assessment in February warned that these two countries would be able to shoot down American satellites within two or three years. But given today’s technology, satellites could potentially be disabled through cyber-hacking, which could be a threat even sooner.
Asteroids
Scientists have for decades been warning about the dangers of asteroids hitting Earth. In a report released late last month, Nasa unveiled what the US should do over the next 10 years to safeguard Earth from potential asteroid impacts.
“The National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan” would involve several agencies across the federal government. Although the plan did not mention Trump’s Space Force, it most likely would involve the Space Force as military assets would surely be needed to track and deflect asteroids.
Space Race
There are some concerns among critics that the creation of a Space Force could be seen by rival countries as a sign that the US wants to dominate space. This could result in space race involving Russia and China.
Actually these two countries are already developing ways to weaponise space. A February report from the Office of the Director of Intelligence in the US noted that Russia and China are continuing to launch experimental satellites that conduct sophisticated on-orbit activities, at least some of which are intended to advance counter-space capabilities. “Some technologies with peaceful applications — such as satellite inspection, refuelling, and repair — can also be used against adversary spacecraft,” the report said.
So, in a sense, a space race has already begun. That doesn’t mean a space war is imminent though. Far from it; US ambitions to have a Space Force is more likely to maintain the peace. Mutual Assured Destruction (or MAD), is what prevented a nuclear war from happening all this while. Ironically, the best way for these rival countries to ensure that no wars break out in the space above us is to develop strong space military capabilities.