Acting Pentagon chief defends space force amid skepticism
Sharpening his argument for a Space Force, the acting Pentagon chief on Tuesday called it a “low cost, low bureaucracy” way to stay ahead of China, Russia and other nations seeking to erase American military advantages in space. The Pentagon and Congress have discussed for years the possibility of establishing a military service for space, but some key lawmakers remain skeptical of the need and wary of the cost. The debate enters a new phase this week with the Senate Armed Services Committee holding its first hearing Thursday on the administration’s proposal to phase in a Space Force over five years and establish a space warfighting command this year. Patrick Shanahan, whose own future as the acting secretary of defense may be tied to the success of his push for a Space Force, is trying to persuade lawmakers that it is urgently needed to preserve U.S. dominance in space. The proposal also is a favorite of President Donald Trump, who often touts the idea at political rallies and whose first defense secretary, Jim Mattis, was initially skeptical of the need for a separate military service for space. Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who had been Mattis’ top deputy and took over for him on Jan. 1, has yet to be nominated as his replacement. In a speech at a space symposium crowded with industry officials hungry for Pentagon business, Shanahan cast China and Russia as threats, suggesting the U.S. has little choice but to match their efforts to weaponized space. He repeated an assertion made in January by the Defense Intelligence Agency that by next year the Chinese military is likely to field a ground-based laser system aimed at low-orbit sensors in space. He said the Chinese also are prepared to use cyberattacks against U.S. space systems, and he said Russia is doing the same. “Because of their actions, space is no longer a sanctuary,” Shanahan said. “It is now a warfighting domain. This is not a future or theoretical threat. This is today’s threat.” His speech kicked off what his staff has dubbed “space week” — a series of space-related events, including Shanahan’s Senate testimony Thursday with Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Shanahan also taped an interview Monday with Fox News from the Colorado Springs luxury resort that is hosting a week-long space symposium. While in Colorado Springs, Shanahan also met with Air Force Gen. John Hyten, the U.S. Strategic Command leader whose responsibilities include overseeing military space operations. In addition to establishing a Space Force, initially setting up just a headquarters in 2020 at a cost of $72 million, the administration is proposing to re-establish U.S. Space Command, which would manage all military space forces, much like Hyten’s Strategic Command manages all nuclear forces. The military had a Space Command for many years, but it was eliminated in 2002 when U.S. Northern Command was set up as a response to the 9/11 attacks. Although many in Congress favor the administration’s proposal, doubts persist, particularly about the Space Force, which requires congressional approval and would be the first new military service since the Air Force was established in 1947. “Is an entirely new and separate military branch needed?” Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked last week. Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, questions whether a separate military service for space will add unnecessary bureaucracy and too many generals. “We ought to be asking ourselves, are we just dazzled by this notion of a Space Force?” he said last month. “Is this going to make us safer?” Todd Harrison, a defense specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the skepticism is to be expected, particularly since the administration’s proposal is “admittedly open-ended” and leaves details to the Pentagon’s discretion. “I think Congress will want to fill in the details and better articulate what the Space Force will include and will not include before it authorizes a change of this magnitude,” Harrison said, adding that he believes the odds are “fairly decent” that Congress will approve a version of the proposal, “simply because the stakes are too high to do nothing.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Mo Brooks stands up for Trump Administration’s Space Force
The Trump administration announced plans on Thursday as to how it will stand up a Space Force as a new branch of the military, a plan that will require congressional approval. Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks expressed support for the plans following Vice President Mike Pence’s speech on Space Force at the Pentagon. “America’s military relies heavily on its space assets to secure our homeland against potential attackers. In this age of highly advanced weaponry, many of our most lethal and crucial weapons systems depend on global positioning satellites to function properly, and Chinese and Russian anti-satellite weaponry threaten those assets,” said Brooks. “For this reason, a dedicated Space Force is critical to protecting America’s national security interests and freedoms against those who would destroy them.” In June, Brooks, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, suggested that the Space Force be headquartered at Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal.
Donald Trump wants a Space Force, but Pentagon has different idea
President Donald Trump wants a Space Force, a new military service he says is needed to ensure American dominance in space. But the idea is gaining little traction at the Pentagon, where the president’s defense chief, Jim Mattis, says it would add burdensome bureaucracy and unwanted costs. The Pentagon acknowledges a need to revamp its much-criticized approach to defending U.S. economic and security interests in space, and it is moving in that direction. But it’s unclear whether this will satisfy Trump, who wants to go even further by creating a separate military space service. The administration intends to announce next week the results of a Pentagon study that is expected to call for creating a new military command — U.S. Space Command — to consolidate space warfighting forces and making other organizational changes short of establishing a separate service, which only Congress can do. Any legislative proposal to create a separate service would likely not be put on the table until next year. Mattis, who said prior to Trump’s “Space Force” announcement in June that he opposes creating a new branch of the military for space, said afterward that this would require “a lot of detailed planning.” Mattis is allied on this with key Republicans on Capitol Hill including Sen. James Inhofe, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who opposes a separate Space Force but is open to creating a Space Command. The command would coordinate the use of space forces of existing services, such as those that operate military satellites, but would not be a separate service. Mattis’s chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White, said Friday he believes that consolidating space functions will “ensure we move at the speed of relevancy. Space is a joint warfighting domain that the U.S. must dominate.” Trump mentioned as recently as Tuesday that he had ordered the Pentagon to begin the process of creating a Space Force as a new branch of the military, but he did not repeat the phrase he used in June — a “separate but equal” service. That may open the possibility of the Pentagon proposing to establish a cadre of space experts that would be part of a space “corps” attached to the Air Force rather than as a separate service. On Friday, Trump hailed the news that NASA has named the astronauts who will ride the first commercial capsules into orbit next year. “We have the greatest facilities in the world and we are now letting the private sector pay to use them,” he tweeted. “Exciting things happening. Space Force!” Trump’s focus has generated an unusual level of talk about space, but with little clarity. “At the moment, there is no concrete proposal on the table for what a Space Force will look like or what it will do,” said Brian Weeden, an Air Force veteran who is director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, which promotes peaceful uses of outer space. “It’s just sort of a notional concept.” Weeden points out that creating a new service would not address what is generally seen as a need for a more coherent force to defend U.S. interests in space, since by law a service recruits, trains and equips troops but does not do combat. That is why a Space Command is being considered, since it would be the combat arm for space much as Central Command is the organization responsible for combat operations in the Middle East. Aside from the organizational issues, the Pentagon’s role in space is under scrutiny because of a recognition that the United States is increasingly reliant on satellites that are difficult to protect in space. Satellites provide communications, navigation, intelligence and other services vital to the military and the economy. Whereas space has long been America’s technological edge, it is increasingly seen as its Achilles’ heel. War in space is not just Hollywood fiction. The U.S. intelligence agencies reported earlier this year that Russia and China are pursuing “nondestructive and destructive” anti-satellite weapons for use during a future war. A related problem that the Pentagon has struggled to address is the sluggish pace of developing and acquiring satellites through the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, which could be replaced by a new space development agency. In an interim report to Congress in March on ways to reorganize its space organizations, the Pentagon said it is making changes to “ensure that we are prepared for” potential conflicts in space. This includes making satellites more resilient to potential attack by Russia or China. Deborah James, who was the civilian leader of the Air Force for the final three years of the Obama administration, said at a think tank forum Monday that creating a separate Space Force does not address the legitimate concerns about U.S. space defenses. One of the criticisms of the Air Force, which is the primary service responsible for military satellites, is that it devotes too little money and attention to space. “If money is your issue, Space Force is not your answer,” she said. If the logic of creating a separate space service were applied broadly, she said, it would imply other radical changes such as creating a single nuclear service by combining management of the strategic nuclear weapons of the Air Force and Navy, which no one is considering. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Mo Brooks pitches Redstone Arsenal for Donald Trump’s new Space Command
Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks wants Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal to be the home of the President Donald Trump‘s new Space Force. Brooks made the suggestion Friday morning when he participated in a joint hearing entitled “Space Situational Awareness: Whole of Government Perspectives on Roles and Responsibilities,” before the Space Subcommittee of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, of which Brooks is Vice-Chair, and the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, of which Brooks is a member. During the hearing, Brooks took the opportunity to opportunity to tell his influential peers of the suggestion. “Forgive me for diverging from the primary focus of this hearing, but it occurs to me that each of you has significant persuasive influence on where the new space command will be headquartered, so I am going to touch on that for a moment,” said Brooks. “In that vein, I hope you will help make Redstone Arsenal a finalist in the space command headquarters debate. Redstone Arsenal has a lot to offer.” Transcription of Brooks’ opening monologue: Forgive me for diverging from the primary focus of this hearing, but it occurs to me that each of you has significant persuasive influence on where the new space command will be headquartered, so I am going to touch on that for a moment. In that vein, I hope you will help make Redstone Arsenal a finalist in the space command headquarters debate. Redstone Arsenal has a lot to offer. We have related to space command— either related a lot or related a little— the following space command activities: United States Army Aviation and Missile Command; Aviation and Missile Research Developmental and Engineering Center; PEO Missiles and Space; United States Army Space and Missile Command; Army Forces Strategic Command; United State Missile Defense Agency; Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center; NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, which is the home and birthplace of America’s space program; a wealth of intellectual talent; engineers, we have the highest concentration of engineers in the United States of America; physicists; mathematicians; scientists. In conclusion, I hope you will concur that Redstone Arsenal and space command seem like an excellent fit.
Donald Trump announces plans for Pentagon to create ‘Space Force’
Vowing to reclaim U.S. leadership in space, President Donald Trump announced Monday he is directing the Pentagon to create a new “Space Force” as an independent service branch aimed at ensuring American supremacy in space. Trump envisioned a bright future for the U.S. space program, pledging to revive the country’s flagging efforts, return to the moon and eventually send a manned mission that would reach Mars. The president framed space as a national security issue, saying he does not want “China and Russia and other countries leading us.” “My administration is reclaiming America’s heritage as the world’s greatest spacefaring nation,” Trump said in the East Room, joined by members of his space council. “The essence of the American character is to explore new horizons and to tame new frontiers.” Trump had previously suggested the possibility of creating a space unit that would include portions equivalent to parts of the Air Force, Army and Navy. But his directive will task the Defense Department to begin the process of establishing the ‘Space Force’ as the sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces. He said the new branch’s creation will be overseen by Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space,” Trump said. He added: “We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal.” The president also used the White House event to establish a new policy for reducing satellite clutter in space. The policy calls for providing a safe and secure environment up in orbit, as satellite traffic increases. It also sets up new guidelines for satellite design and operation, to avoid collisions and spacecraft breakups. Trump was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the recently revived space council, and several Cabinet members, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, retired astronauts and scientists. The council’s executive secretary, Scott Pace, told reporters before the meeting that space is becoming increasingly congested and current guidelines are inadequate to address the challenge. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
