Donald Trump officially launches US “space force”
- Donald Trump has launched space force, the first new US military service in more than 70 years.
- Trump signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that includes the space force. It is part of a $1.4tn (£1.1tn) government spending package – including the Pentagon’s budget – that provides a steady stream of financing for Trump’s US-Mexico border fence and reverses unpopular and unworkable automatic spending cuts to defence and domestic programmes.
- It is not intended to put troops into orbit, but will protect US assets – such as the hundreds of satellites used for communication and surveillance.
- Space Force will build on the work of the existing US Space Command (SpaceCom), which was created in August to handle the US military’s space operations.