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President Trump directs Pentagon to create ‘separate but equal’ Space Force
President Donald Trump today directed the Department of Defense to create a Space Force as the sixth branch of the U.S. military, alongside the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
“We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal,” Trump said at a White House meeting of the National Space Council. “It is going to be something so important.”
He called on Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford to carry out the assignment — which Dunford, a member of the council, accepted on the spot.
The idea of having a separate Space Force to focus on national space security has been around for years, but gathered momentum after Trump took office.
In past pronouncements, Air Force officials have said breaking off a separate Space Force would introduce more bureaucracy without significantly enhancing space security — but Trump signaled that he was instead siding with congressional proponents of the idea.
Today marked the third formal meeting of the National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and attended by top officials from NASA and the Commerce and Transportation departments.
After Trump made his introductory remarks, he signed his administration’s third space policy directive, aimed at heading off a tangle of satellites and space debris when thousands more satellites go into orbit.
Space Policy Directive 3 sets forth who’s in charge of what in realms known as space situational awareness and space traffic management.
Satellite smashups can pose long-lasting hazards, as demonstrated by the aftermath of a Chinese anti-satellite test in 2007 and a collision between U.S. and Russian telecommunications satellites in 2009.
Historically, the Department of Defense has kept track of objects in orbit and issued advisories about potential conflicts. But that job is due to get trickier in the years ahead as new waves of commercial satellites go into low Earth orbit for remote sensing and internet access.
The newly signed directive keeps the Pentagon in charge of maintaining the catalog of in-space objects, but gives the Commerce Department the primary role in making space safety data and services available to the public.
The Commerce, Defense and Transportation departments will work together to update policies for assessing risks before the launch of new satellites. NASA will lead efforts to update the government’s standards and practices for satellite design and operation, as well as procedures for mitigating orbital debris.
Meanwhile, the State Department will lead the government’s efforts “related to international transparency, space object registry and international engagement” on space situational awareness and space traffic management, said Scott Pace, the National Space Council’s executive secretary.
“Space traffic management cuts across all departments and agencies with space-related missions, and requires all to work in concert,” Pace told reporters today during a teleconference in advance of the council meeting.
During the meeting, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that Kevin O’Connell, an expert on space security and intelligence, would head his department’s Office of Space Commerce.
In other developments:
Trump spent the first few minutes at the meeting railing against Democrats over the issue of immigration and family separation, sparked by his own administration’s “zero tolerance” policy at the U.S.-Mexican border. “I say it very strongly: It’s the Democrats’ fault,” Trump said. Among those in attendance were Apollo moonwalkers Buzz Aldrin and Harrison Schmitt, as well as retired Eileen Collins, who served as the first female space shuttle mission commander. Trump made a special call-out to recently confirmed NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, using a catchphrase that the president made famous in his former role as a reality-TV star. “You better do a good job, or I’ll say ‘You’re fired’ in two minutes,” he said. The president also recognized members of the council’s Users Advisory Group, including the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin as well as United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed joint venture. Trump added a dig at ULA: “I don’t love that stuff, joining those two companies. … No wonder we don’t get the pricing we want.”