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Old 07-05-2017, 08:01 AM
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Question There may soon be a new US military service — for space

There may soon be a new US military service — for space
Updated by Alex Ward@AlexWardVox 7-5-17 6am
RE: https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/5/1...armed-services


American troops are currently serving in 177 countries around the world. But if some members of Congress get their way, US forces may soon be fighting in a brave new frontier: space.

Yes, seriously.

A House Armed Services Committee proposal that’s making its way to the Senate calls for taking the Air Force’s current space missions and giving them to a brand-new branch of the US armed forces whose sole mission would be to focus on space.

Welcome to the Space Corps.

Currently, the Air Force helps with spacelift operations, command and control of satellites, and more. The Space Corps would absorb these missions. It would be its own military service that would form part of the Department of the Air Force, similar to the way the Marine Corps is part of the Department of the Navy.

It would also elevate space’s prominence in America’s military missions. There would be a new four-star chief of staff of the Space Corps who would become the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s eighth member.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the Space Corps’ main champion, thinks creating the new branch is necessary for US national security, particularly because other countries are catching up to America’s power in space. “Russia and China have become near peers,” Rogers told NPR. “They're close to surpassing us. What we're proposing would change that.”

There’s just one problem: The Air Force is adamantly against it. “The Pentagon is complicated enough,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told reporters on June 21. “This will make it more complex, add more boxes to the organization chart.”

So it’s unclear whether the Space Corps will actually happen. But now that Congress is officially asking for it, it’s worth going through why the proposal exists in the first place.

Because as any self-respecting science fiction fan knows all too well, space is a dangerous place.

“Space is no longer a peaceful domain”
What was once the final frontier could soon become the front line of a future conflict. At least, that’s the view of the Defense Department.

“Space is no longer a peaceful domain,” Deborah Lee James, the last Air Force secretary, said in an interview. There is a real possibility that a conflict on Earth could bleed into space.”

There are two main reasons for that: Russia and China. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, Russia wants to gain more power in space because it believes gaining supremacy there will allow it to win future fights on this planet. And in late 2015, China created the Strategic Support Force, which is meant to streamline and improve its space, cyber, and electronic warfare missions.

They are both causing problems with anti-satellite technology, too, noted Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in May — meaning they could mess with the satellites that help the US military do its job. The Pentagon is planning to open a space-war center to counter their threats.

Okay, but, like ... what sort of conflict is actually going on in space? What are we really talking about here?

Basically, there is tons of military equipment in space — especially satellites. This kind of equipment helps the US, Russia, and China — and any tech-savvy force — navigate terrain and communicate with one another. On top of that, assets in space help to track enemy fighters, take pictures for intelligence services, and even help control missiles. Without space, it would be much harder to fight on Earth; that’s why Russia and China are investing so heavily in it.

But Russia and China aren’t space’s only threats. The area just outside Earth’s orbit has seen an explosion of commercial satellites and other communications equipment since the 1960s, put there first by countries and, as of late, commercial companies. That equipment is used to help drivers reach their destination, help potential lovers swipe right on dating apps, or simply help people text a friend.

The chart below shows the huge growth in these satellites. The blue line represents their total growth since around 1960.

The internet, of course, adds a new complication to all of the equipment countries are putting in space. Most notably, they can potentially be hacked. For instance, a team of hackers could jam a satellite by messing with its signals so it interrupts the satellite’s normal activity, rendering it useless. That could cause problems for all sorts of everyday activities, like credit card transactions and phone calls.

Then, of course, there’s space debris threatening all of that commercial and military space equipment, since it could knock into the expensive machines. NASA estimates that there are 20,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball orbiting the Earth, about 500,000 pieces of debris the size of a marble or larger, and many millions of pieces that are too small to register.

All of this is why Rep. Rogers and even former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believe the US needs a Space Corps. It would ensure the safety of space equipment by monitoring physical and cyberthreats against US communication and navigation assets. It would be more of a defensive mission than an offensive one — for now. That doesn’t mean troops in space, yet, but who knows down the line?

Essentially, if the US military wants to protect life here on Earth, it needs to safeguard US assets in space. But is a Space Corps the way to do it?

"This is a solution in search of a problem"
The main issue here is that Rogers and others believe the Air Force isn’t paying enough attention to space. That makes sense to an extent, as the Air Force’s main directive is to focus on flying planes here on Earth.

The idea is that creating a new service will ensure that there’s a segment of the military whose entire job is to focus on space 100 percent of the time. That would allow the Space Corps to counter Russia, China, and other threats while giving space-focused staff more bureaucratic power inside the Pentagon.

But Sean O’Keefe, a former NASA head and Navy secretary, thinks creating a brand-new branch of the military is not the right way to go. "This is a solution in search of a problem," he told me in an interview. Basically, he thinks the Air Force is already doing a fine job protecting space — even if it does privilege Earthbound pilots. Creating a Space Corps would just add another layer of bureaucracy to an already massive organization — the Pentagon.

James, the former Air Force secretary, agrees. She thinks dealing with the current complaints about the Air Force and space — 1) that it’s not well funded, 2) that acquisition takes too long, and 3) that there is no one person to call about military space operations — makes more sense.

The first complaint is already being mollified to an extent. The Air Force asked for a 20 percent increase in funds to focus on space in 2018. As for the third complaint, James feels it’s a common refrain heard at DOD that doesn’t necessarily just apply to the Air Force and space. “If you look at any warfare area in the Department of Defense, there’s no single bellybutton for anything,” she told me.

So clearly the Space Corps has its detractors — including the current Air Force secretary herself. And of course, Congress has yet to officially mandate its creation. (It would have to end up in the final defense authorization bill.)

But the conversation has really kicked into high gear. Time will tell if future US troops will be wearing space helmets.
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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