Trump Makes Space Force Official: ‘Space is the World’s New War-Fighting Domain’

The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes Space Force, was signed by President Donald Trump on Friday. This launches the first new military service in more than 70 years.

For those of you who don't know, the first new military service since the Air Force was spun off from the Army in 1947. Space Force will be the provider of forces to US Space Command, a separate organization established earlier this year as the overseer of the military's space operations. However, the new branch of military is not designed or intended to put combat troops in space.

“Our destiny, beyond the Earth, is not only a matter of national identity, but a matter of national security,” said President Donald Trump in a recent statement he made on whitehouse.gov. Establishing the Space Force is critical to preparing the Department of Defense for the evolving warfighting environments of the twenty-first century.

Trump claimed signing the act as a victory for one of his top national security priorities. “Space is the world's new war-fighting domain. Among grave threats to our national security, American superiority in space is absolutely vital. And we're leading, but we're not leading by enough, and very shortly we'll be leading by a lot,” said Trump.

According to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, “our reliance on space-based capabilities has grown dramatically, and today outer space has evolved into a warfighting domain of its own.” He added that maintaining dominance in space will now be Space Force’s mission.

A senior US Air Force official said that 5,000 to 6,000 personnel out of the 16,000 will be transferred to the Space Force in the future. “The military service members that focus on space, space operators, will eventually be transferred to the Space Force on a voluntary basis at some point in the future, officials say. Support personnel, such as security officers and civil engineers, will remain in the Air Force even though they are assigned to the Space Force,” said CNN.