Space Force: Donald Trump forms new military service... for space!
- Published
- comments
President Donald Trump has officially launched a new military service focused on space, called the Space Force.
It joins the Navy, Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard and is the first new military force in over 70 years.
The president has agreed a $738bn (拢567bn) annual US military budget - with $40m going towards setting up the new force.
At the launch at an army base near Washington, Mr Trump described space as "the world's newest war-fighting domain".
What will the Space Force do?
It may sound like something straight out of Star Wars but really the US Space Force is not as dramatic as it sounds.
It is not intended to send troops into space, instead it would protect things belonging to the US like the hundreds of satellites used for communication and surveillance.
The Space Force would sit within the already established US Air Force and would at first have 16,000 airmen and civilians from the Air Force Space Command.
Why was the Space Force formed?
Russia, China and the US have used space for military purposes for many years
Russia and China, like the US, are believed to have tested weapons that could destroy a satellite in space.
Vice-President Mike Pence previously said the two nations had airborne lasers and anti-satellite missiles the US needed to find a way to combat.
At the launch of Space Force Donald Trump said: "Amid grave threats to our national security, American superiority in space is absolutely vital."
- Published9 June 2019
- Published19 December 2019
- Published21 December 2019
