Impatiently awaiting Congressional approval of his Space Force, Donald Trump this week reestablished the Cold War-era U.S. Space Command.
Founded in 1985 to provide joint command and control of the Air Force, Army, and Navy’s space forces, SpaceCom has been restored under the authority of Gen. Jay Raymond.
“It’s a big deal,” Trump said during a Thursday announcement in the Rose Garden. “As the newest combatant command, SpaceCom will defend America’s vital interests in space, the next war-fighting domain.”
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Armed Forces’ focus on homeland defense and counter-terrorism meant the deemphasis of outer space.
As a result, the U.S. Northern Command was born, while SpaceCom merged with U.S. Strategic Command, becoming the Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike.
In 2006, that was replaced by the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, which, in 2017, was reorganized as the Joint Force Space Component Commander.
Now, 34 years later, we’ve come full circle to the United States Space Command.
“The establishment of the 11th combatant command is a landmark moment,” Trump said. “This is a landmark day. One that recognizes the centrality of space to America’s national security and defence.
“With today’s action we open another great chapter in the extraordinary history of the United States military,” he continued. “SpaceCom will ensure that America’s dominance in space is never threatened and never questioned, because we know the best way to prevent conflict is to prepare for victory.”
United States Space Command (via U.S. Space Command)
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper praised the refreshed program, asserting that SpaceCom “is the next crucial step towards the creation of an independent space force as an additional armed force.”
This occasion, the president ensured, will soon be followed by the establishment of the United States Space Force as the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces.
“And that’s really something, when you think about it,” he said.
In February, Trump signed a directive to establish a new branch of the military dedicated to handling threats in space.
A Space Force, as described by the White House, would be authorized to “organize, train, and equip military space forces … to ensure unfettered access to, and freedom to operate in space, and to provide vital capabilities to joint and coalition forces in peacetime and across the spectrum of conflict.”
Before anyone can ensure America’s sovereignty among the stars, though, the proposal must be OKed by Congress.
Trump first floated the idea of launching a space force to fight cosmic enemies in March 2018. A year before, the House Armed Services Committee voted to create a U.S. Space Corps, which would absorb the Air Force’s current celestial missions.
If approved, the Space Force would become the nation’s first new military service since 1947.
“The dangers to our country constantly evolve, and so must we,” Trump said. “Now, those who wish to harm the United States, to seek to challenge us in the ultimate high ground of space—it’s gonna be a whole different ball game.”
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