Isn’t this something we should be working against? I can think of three or four(teen) countries that might object to the U.S. taking such a stance, but that’s just my humble opinion.
Yours is…?
We already have one.JFCC Space.
Perhaps(wisely) they just didn’t tell him?
Just what does he think this Space Force would do?
Wait, sorry, I used the T word in reference to Trump. Never mind.
It’s a totally pointless solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. If COURSE Trump thinks it’s a good idea.
To be fair, the Peoples Republic of China is already engaging in programs for the miltarization of orbital space. The United States should be preparing for military conflict in orbital space, although we arguably already have the basic organization to do so within the Air Force Space Command, so establishing yet another branch of the military would not seem to be necessary. And yes, regardless of what China is doing, we should be using diplomatic means to avoid a militay buildup in space that other nations will feel the necessity to follow suit and build up their own space warfare capability, and then feel compelled to use it to justify its existence.
Stranger
This is a tremendous way for the military to consume even more of the tremendous defense budget.
What he was talking about was splitting off the space operations of the Air Force into its own command, much as the Air Force was created by spinning off the Army Air Corps. That’s what the ‘Space Force’ is.
I don’t have an opinion on the change, as I haven’t read much about it. I think it might make sense if space operations really expand.
About that… The militarization of space is inevitable. No treaties are going to stop it. If the cost of space declines as much as it looks like it’s about to, all kinds of new offensive and defensive military uses will open up. Not only that, but space could become accessible to a lot more state actors. There’s no way that something as strategically valuable as space will remain off-limits - especially since the USA, China and Russia have been in the military space game for a long time.
My prediction is that everyone is watching the economics of Falcon Heavy and the upcoming BFR and Bezos rockets very carefully. If launch costs come down anywhere near to what Musk is claiming/promising, there are going to be crash reusable rocket programs going on at pretty much every space agency and consortium. There’s no way a Delta IV is going to remain viable at $600 million per launch when a Falcon Heavy is 90 million. BFR could potentially fly for $5 -$10 million per launch, and launch 5X the mass. That’s a rounding error for a military budget.
It seems to me that the genie is out of the bottle. Even if BFR doesn’t live up to the promise, Musk has shown that reusability is viable. Now that we know that, others will follow. Market competition will drive incremental improvements in a way that cost-plus government contracting did not. Eventually, rockets will be almost completely reusable, have fast turnarounds, and be highly reliable like aircrraft.
I think the Falcon Heavy Launch may eventually be remembered as the first step in the ‘New’ Space era, where spaceships are reusable like airplanes, and rocket flight into space is routine and fairly inexpensive, compared to the earlier era of throwaway rockets and billion dollar launches. Falcon 9’s have been pulling off this trick for a while, but that spectacle of the twin booster landings and the Starman in orbit I think really startled a lot of people out of complacency. The game is on. There’s too much money in the space industry to allow Musk to take it all. I think a few space execs were in denial until that moment.
I agree with all of your post except this part. I’m very dubious he had any clue about what he was talking about.
Please show me in his speech where he explained that was what he meant. From which of his handlers did that “explanation” come from?
I’m surprised you haven’t heard of this. It’s been floating around the Republican House for some time. There’s no way Trump doesn’t know this. I suspect he said this possibly to help shore up his Republican base in the House a bit.
If so, it was pretty stupid to say it. Because almost everyone in government, the military, and aerospace are opposed to it, from General Mattis on down. Trump is going to have to walk this back, or somehow pet a lot of ruffled feathers.
I always knew Trumpy wanted to be a space cadet.
It’s a mildly interesting idea, but for now you’ll have to settle for building and maintaining small robots on very high mountains.
I mean image the vast amount of money you would have to spend diplomatically trying to keep orbital space weapon free compared to the minuscule amount the military would use.
- I have heard of it.
- Do you really think Trump pays attention to what floats around the Republican House?
- You didn’t answer my questions-This is just more of the same “Well, what he really meant was…” backpedaling that we get every time he shoves his foot in his mouth.
Here is a recent thread in which I do an excellent job of explaining the silliness of the concept of a Space Corps. Basically, it’s a great idea if you want to spend more on military bureaucracy.
Trump has no idea what he’s talking about, of course.
ETA: but let’s be perfectly clear: space IS militarized already. The core functions of a Space Corps would be exactly identical to the space missions already being carried out by the Air Force: building satellites, launching them, operating them. The types of satellites would also be identical: communications, GPS, weather, missile warning, and maybe a few one-trick ponies. So it is a proposal that is really like proposing a new military service for naval aviation: you want to split the Navy apart for something it is already doing, so that it can continue to do the thing it is now doing? Uh… why? Because the big Navy pays more attention to ships, and your feelings are hurt?
Welp, I tried to get some quasifictional fun along the lines of the OP going awhile back, but got zero replies/participation, so I stopped.
That’s because you tried to parody Trump when Trump parodies himself every single day. It took a while for me to quit searching for The Onion website tag every time he said something mindnumbingly stupid.
I guess the Pentagon is looking at elevating the Air Force Space Command into a functional combatant command, as opposed to creating a new military service called the Space Force or Space Corps or something. That idea makes more sense.
All he cares is that they march in his military parade wearing really cool spacesuits. He probably thinks that a few of the Space Force cadets could pull a trailer holding a space rocket.
I gotta admit though that if the Space Force paraded by driving bright red Tesla sportscars, that would be pretty cool.